The Effects of the International Economic Crisis on Spain’s Environmental Policy

This chapter employs qualitative analysis to apply the Index of Policy Activity (IPA) to renewables, biodiversity, energy efficiency, and climate change in Spain. These four policy areas are compared, in order to outline differences in policy approaches and factors shaping policy change. The analysis reveals that the economic crisis of 2007–8 has had a profound effect upon Spanish environmental policy, reversing Spain’s progress from being an environmental leader to transforming it into a laggard, especially in relation to renewable energy technologies. A lack of resources has forced the government to abandon its once-praised support schemes and instead to adopt measures that penalize the development of renewable energy. The chapter identifies structural barriers as the main cause of recent policy reversals. Political preferences and issues related to the decentralization of the Spanish government system emerge as central explanatory variables for environmental policy implementation and change.