Spain’s Constitutional Reform: What is Seen and Not Seen

Abstract

The recent constitutional reform agreed by the Spanish Parliament on 7 September 2011 aims to mitigate concerns over public finances by constraining the general government’s spending and borrowing capacity. In their analysis of this historic agreement, Jose M. Abad and Javier Hernandez Galante find that the reform represents a major step forward, but that it must be integrated within a more ambitious programme of structural reforms, with special emphasis on areas such as the labour market and the tax system, before there can be any real prospect of resuscitating the Spanish economy.