Major Spanish Cities Research Articles

Landscapes of thermal inequality: Exploring patterns of climate justice across multiple spatial scales in Spain

Over the last four decades, global temperatures have seen a generalized, long-term increase, and Europe is at the forefront of this trend, with temperatures rising by over twice the global average in the past 30 years. And the problem of excessive heat exposure is disproportionately more serious urban areas than it is in rural areas. This study investigates the issue of thermal inequality in Southern Europe, a largely understudied region exposed to substantial heat stress. We selected five major Spanish cities that reflect different socio-demographic and environmental contexts of the country, using the city’s administrative boundaries as our unit of analysis. We used bespoke neighborhoods to investigate heat inequality at multiple spatial scales. To illustrate the relationship between the thermal inequality patterns and the socio-demographic characteristics of neighborhoods, we estimated three separate generalized least squares regression models for each city, with the outcome variable being the average land surface temperature values in bespoke neighborhoods across the three spatial scales: 300 m, 1000 m, and 2000 m. The actual link between heat exposure and neighborhood characteristics appears to be sensitive to the local social, economic, institutional, historical and geographical context. Nonetheless, the connection between heat exposure and residents’ socioeconomic status, as well as the association of neighborhood population density with land surface temperature, seems to maintain consistent significance, often retaining their importance despite the spatial scale of analysis and employed zoning method.

Analysis of the Impact of Urban Green Spaces on Mitigating the Urban Heat Island Effect

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, characterized by higher temperatures in urban areas compared to their rural surroundings, poses significant challenges for energy consumption, air quality, and public health. This study examines the impact of urban green spaces on mitigating the UHI effect in four major Spanish cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, and Valencia. Using high-resolution satellite imagery, ground-based temperature measurements, and advanced GIS and statistical modeling techniques, we quantified the temperature differences between green and non-green urban areas. Our findings indicate that green spaces, including parks, street trees, and green roofs, significantly reduce urban temperatures, with parks exhibiting the highest cooling effects. The spatial analysis revealed that UHI hotspots are concentrated in densely built-up areas, while green spaces effectively mitigate these effects. Seasonal variations show that the cooling benefits of green spaces are more pronounced during the summer months. This study highlights the importance of incorporating diverse and well-distributed green spaces in urban planning to enhance thermal comfort, reduce energy consumption, and improve urban livability. Policy recommendations are provided to guide the integration of green infrastructure in climate adaptation strategies for Spanish cities.

Bound and Burdened: How Contemporary Empalaos Rituals in Valverde Rewrite Crypto Muslim and Jewish History in Late Medieval Iberia

Abstract: Los Empalaos is a Semana Santa practice and living medievalism maintained today in the town of Valverde de la Vera in Extremadura, Spain. The town situates this practice in opposition to the luxurious daytime Holy Week festivities of major Spanish cities like Seville. A ghostly, endurance-based midnight performance enacted by lace-draped devotees, this spectacle draws pilgrims and tourists from across the world to the tiny town. Los Empalaos is traced by contemporary practitioners to fifteenth-century festivities that grew up around the expulsions of Jews. These recalled forced performances by converts intended to display their total transformation into "good Spanish Christians" through public bodily suffering and humiliation. This article argues that Los Empalaos uniquely incorporates a complex interplay of gender, rural and ethnoreligious identity, and traumatic historical memory while drawing on acts and events from late medieval Spain. This festive ritual encoded traces of Crypto-Jewish and Crypto-Muslim lamentations. The article reflects on the historicizing narrative of contemporary Semana Santa festivities as critical cultural spectacles whose repertoire recreates and transforms the medieval imaginary, obfuscating Jewish and Muslim histories.

How much inequality in exposure to high PM10 pollution is too much to be considered environmentally unfair? An assessment for vulnerable groups in two major Spanish cities

¿Cuánta desigualdad en exposición a alta polución por PM10 es demasiada para considerarla ambientalmente injusta? Una evaluación para grupos vulnerables en dos grandes ciudades españolas Las desigualdades en la afección o carga ambiental (externalidades negativas, peligros, malestar, etc.) entre lugares y personas son un tema de creciente interés. Se han publicado abundantes estudios, utilizando métodos diversos, en los que se concluye que, a menudo, existe discriminación e inequidad. Ahora bien, desde el punto el punto de vista de la formación de decisiones públicas y de la gobernanza una pregunta sigue siendo necesario responder con claridad: cuánta desigualdad existe y si ésta es demasiada para ser calificada de injusta y justificar, por tanto, la acción pública. En este artículo se aborda esa cuestión a partir de un estudio de caso relativo al peligro por polución del aire en Madrid y Barcelona (España). A tal fin se examina la distribución espacial de varios grupos de población vulnerables y su exposición potencial a alta concentración de PM10 en la atmósfera, usando un método razonable que implica el uso de SIG y técnicas estadísticas. La adopción de un criterio operativo y explícito de imparcialidad posibilita medir la cantidad de desigualdad para cada grupo de población y determinar si ésta excede significativamente al criterio de referencia. Ello facilita una valoración más certera de la situación por los ciudadanos y los decisores públicos.

Trade-offs between short-term mortality attributable to NO2 and O3 changes during the COVID-19 lockdown across major Spanish cities

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic forced most countries to put in place lockdown measures to slow down the transmission of the virus. These lockdowns have led to temporal improvements in air quality. Here, we evaluate the changes in NO2 and O3 levels along with the associated impact upon premature mortality during the COVID-19 lockdown and deconfinement periods along the first epidemic wave across the provincial capital cities of Spain. We first quantify the change in pollutants solely due to the lockdown as the difference between business-as-usual (BAU) pollution levels, estimated with a machine learning-based meteorological normalization technique, and observed concentrations. Second, instead of using exposure-response functions between the pollutants and mortality reported in the literature, we fit conditional quasi-Poisson regression models to estimate city-specific associations between daily pollutant levels and non-accidental mortality during the period 2010–2018. Significant relative risk values are observed at lag 1 for NO2 (1.0047 [95% CI: 1.0014 to 1.0081]) and at lag 0 for O3 (1.0039 [1.0013 to 1.0065]). On average NO2 changed by −51% (intercity range −65.7 to −30.9%) and −36.4% (−53.7 to −11.6%), and O3 by −1.1% (−20.2 to 23.8%) and 0.6% (−12.4 to 23.0%), during the lockdown (57 days) and deconfinement (42 days) periods, respectively. We obtain a reduction in attributable mortality associated with NO2 changes of −119 (95% CI: -273 to −24) deaths over the lockdown, and of −53 (−114 to −10) deaths over the deconfinement. This was partially compensated by an increase in the attributable number of deaths, 14 (−72 to 99) during the lockdown, and 8 (−27 to 50) during the deconfinement, associated with the rise in O3 levels in the most populous cities during the analysed period, despite the overall small average reductions. Our study shows that the potential trade-offs between multiple air pollutants should be taken into account when evaluating the health impacts of environmental exposures.

Alternative economic practices in Spanish cities: from grassroots movements to urban policies? An institutional perspective

ABSTRACTAlternative economic practices (AEPs) challenge capitalism and have flourished in Spain since 2008, when the economic, social, and political crisis severely hit the country. Cities are the principal places in which these practices are developing because unemployment, poverty, and foreclosures quickly rose in urban areas between 2008 and 2015. After the local election in 2015, left-wing coalitions took office in the major Spanish cities. These new governments replaced the former neoliberal and pro-growth coalitions and assumed the promotion for alternative economic modes of coordination as a part of their political agendas and new regulations. This article draws on institutional theory to frame the locally contingent outcomes of the interaction between alternative institutions and formal regulation in six Spanish cities. Empirically, we found that comprehensive plans by local authorities to enhance AEPs led to mutual reinforcement of regulations and institutions in Madrid and Barcelona. In contrast, institutions of AEPs in Oviedo, Valencia, and Valladolid substituted for the absence of regulatory response. Finally, Salamanca illustrates the case of competition between AEP institutions and local regulations, which even worked to replace AEPs.

The decline of water consumption in Spanish cities: structural and contingent factors

ABSTRACT As cities will concentrate most of the world’s population and economic activities, so urban water demand will account for a large proportion of global water demand in the future. In contrast, recent empirical evidence indicates that water consumption in many cities of the developed world is declining. In this article, this decline in consumption is studied for the major Spanish cities, and some of the drivers of this decline (economic, technological and behavioural) are explored. Contingent events such as droughts and economic crises may intensify the decline in consumption, as shown for the case of Barcelona.

»Monitor Yourself!« The Controlled Emotions of Spanish Office Holders in the Early Modern Period

Abstract The essay is dedicated to the idealized emotionlessness of early modern Spanish office holders. It focuses on the so called corregidores, which represented the king and administered justice in major Spanish cities. Their instructions often idealized the total lack of pasiones or at least their complete invisibility. Such a discarding of all affects echoed the ideals of impartial judges, just kings and uninterested clerics and had specific functions, especially in cities with their high density of mutual observation. To live accordingly, that is, with one’s own emotions permanently held in check, required personal aptitude, appropriate age and a process of education and study which should convert certain habits into a ›second nature‹ and thus distinguish the corregidor significantly from the society over which he was to judge. Constantly checked by society however, this second nature would corrupt, if not protected by a rigid and permanent »vigilance over oneself«.

The role of road safety in a sustainable urban mobility: An econometric assessment of the Spanish NUTS-3 case

ABSTRACTThere has been a structural change in mobility in major Spanish cities in recent decades, with a switch to the pattern followed in other countries in the area. A shift has taken place from a traditional Mediterranean model to a North American city stereotype, with uncontrolled motorization and major implications for public health. This article specifically analyzes negative road safety-related externalities that result from this process, given that the trend seems to show a steady decline in road safety accidents on urban roads in Spain, with major differences among NUTS-3 provinces. The objective is to evaluate the factors that empirically explain these differences for the 2003–2013 period using a panel data analysis. Results show that a key role is played by urban development variables, such as population density and improvements in health services, with advances linked to more accessible and sustainable urban transportation, such as the Smart City concept. Not only does this article close a gap in the literature, but the findings can also serve as a practical guide for the development and implementation of urban mobility and road safety plans, and reveals the special needs of the most vulnerable groups.

New actors in a modern services sector. The city of Bilbao (1900–1930)

ABSTRACTIn the early twentieth century, major Spanish cities lived a process of urban sprawl, population growth and economic modernization. The result was expansion, diversification and innovation in the services sector. Bilbao, a paradigm of the industrial city in Spain, experienced this change and became the centre of an industrial and service urban area. By 1930, almost half of the working population of both sexes were employed in the services sector. This paper analyses the evolution of that sector during the first third of the twentieth century, its composition and characteristics, its spatial distribution in the city and visible innovation indicators. For these purposes, special attention is given to the search for new and original sources.

Transformación urbana y procesos territoriales recientes en Zaragoza y su espacio metropolitano

In the last two decades the urban area of Zaragoza has experienced a high urban, residential and demographic growth, both in the metropolitan periphery, but especially in the central city. Thus, while the whole population urban area has grown 19%, new artificial land uses increased 71%. The recent development of Zaragoza has followed the general pattern of the major Spanish cities, even in the capital of Aragon urban transformations have been particularly intense due to the assumption of strategic projects (residential and business) in the new Master Plan, to the effects on the urban structure of the arrival of high speed rail, and the appointment of Zaragoza to host the International Exposition of 2008. This has had some undeniable effects in modifying the shape of the city, but also in the organization, relationships and territorial processes of Zaragoza’s metropolitan area.

Impact of medium-distance pollution sources in a Galician suburban site (NW Iberian peninsula)

This work studies airborne quality in a geographical area that has not been investigated broadly: a suburban site nearby A Coruña (Galicia, NW Iberian Peninsula). In contrast to major Spanish cities, the site has Atlantic characteristics: rainy, scarce calm weather and infrequent prolonged sunny periods. The relationships between several gaseous pollutants (NO, NO2, NOx, CO, O3, PM10, PM2.5 and PM1) and their temporal trends (daily, monthly and seasonal) were evaluated. The aim was to unravel whether medium- and long-distance sources were impacting upon the site. Univariate studies focused on factorizing the pollutants according to a codifying factor (wind direction, hour of the day, season and month). Multivariate studies (Varimax-rotated factorial analysis) were done separately on both weekdays and weekends. The intensity of the daily maxima for NO, NO2, NOx and CO was lower during the weekends, with O3 behaving opposite. PM average values agreed with previous historical reports for a rural background station relatively close to the site and they decreased daily between 11:00 and 19:00h, likely because of the marine breeze. With moderate wind speeds the pollutants were associated to medium-distance pollution sources, mainly the city of A Coruña and a combination of industrial pollution sources (a power plant, a solid waste incinerator and a regional airport).

Urban NH3 levels and sources in six major Spanish cities

A detailed spatial and temporal assessment of urban NH3 levels and potential emission sources was made with passive samplers in six major Spanish cities (Barcelona, Madrid, A Coruña, Huelva, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Valencia). Measurements were conducted during two different periods (winter–autumn and spring–summer) in each city. Barcelona showed the clearest spatial pattern, with the highest concentrations in the old city centre, an area characterised by a high population density and a dense urban architecture. The variability in NH3 concentrations did not follow a common seasonal pattern across the different cities. The relationship of urban NH3 with SO2 and NOX allowed concluding on the causes responsible for the variations in NH3 levels between measurement periods observed in Barcelona, Huelva and Madrid. However, the factors governing the variations in A Coruña, Valencia and Santa Cruz de Tenerife are still not fully understood. This study identified a broad variability in NH3 concentrations at the city-scale, and it confirms that NH3 sources in Spanish urban environments are vehicular traffic, biological sources (e.g. garbage containers), wastewater treatment plants, solid waste treatment plants and industry. The importance of NH3 monitoring in urban environments relies on its role as a precursor of secondary inorganic species and therefore PMX. Further research should be addressed in order to establish criteria to develop and implement mitigation strategies for cities, and to include urban NH3 sources in the emission inventories.

Building brand value in major Spanish cities: an analysis through municipal websites

PurposeUrban managers increasingly focus on establishing the city as a brand to ensure a competitive force that enables the city to position itself at home and abroad. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the development of city branding from the market orientation of the capital cities of Spain's regional Autonomous Communities.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis uses a set of variables representing the different aspects that shape market orientation, and variables related to the development and implementation of city branding strategies. The methodology for collecting information on the cities under study is based on content analysis, and its specific application to the analysis of websites.FindingsThe research carried out reveals the existence of four distinct groups of Spain's cities that can be differentiated in terms of the importance that they give to the different areas of market orientation and the development of city branding strategies.Research limitations/implicationsThe cities considered give an insight into the strategies of brand creation and development at major Spanish cities but tell nothing about secondary cities. The scope of the study is purely domestic. The authors intend to expand it to include cities elsewhere in Europe, to enable comparisons to be drawn of the processes of creation and development of city branding in different countries. The municipal web sites used as a source of information show some volatility, and as a result need to be reviewed from time to time.Originality/valueAlthough web sites as marketing tools offer significant advantages, such as accessibility of information, provision of relevant information, handling of complaints, low cost, and customer service, there has been very little research into their role in urban management. Using the content provided by each municipality's official web site as a source, this paper offers a different perspective which complements research performed through other methods.

Tram, mobilità e crescita urbana in Spagna, 1900-1936

Tramways, mobility and urban growth in Spain, 1900-1936 - The article focuses on the relationship between tramway networks and urban structure in Spain during the period 1900-1936. It states that this relationship should be studied after considering the use of transport and the mobility patterns of different classes, specially the working class. Once these factors have been studied it is possible to assert the impact of the tramway netmark on urban growth. The impact of the tramways on major Spanish cities did not take the form of a transport revolution that would radically changed the urban pattern. Tramways did not direct urban growth until use of tramway lines by the working class became general. This did not happen until World War I. Since then, skilled and some unskilled workers did change their mobility patterns and tramway use experienced a cycle of growth that continued until the late 1950s.

La intervención musical en las exequias reales de la catedral de Cuenca (1598-1621)

The article discusses the uniqueness of music in the office of the dead from a first look at Funeral acts that took place in the cathedral of Cuenca between 1598 and 1621, related to the deaths of Philip II, Margaret of Austria and Philip III: ceremonies of marked magnificence, repeated in major Spanish cities. After analyzing your organization the article includes the transcription of five documents that contain data associated unpublished historical and artistic interest.

Tram, mobilitŕ e crescita urbana in Spagna, 1900-1936

- The article focuses on the relationship between tramway networks and urban structure in Spain during the period 1900-1936. It states that this relationship should be studied after considering the use of transport and the mobility patterns of different classes, specially the working class. Once these factors have been studied it is possible to assert the impact of the tramway netmark on urban growth. The impact of the tramways on major Spanish cities did not take the form of a transport revolution that would radically changed the urban pattern. Tramways did not direct urban growth until use of tramway lines by the working class became general. This did not happen until World War I. Since then, skilled and some unskilled workers did change their mobility patterns and tramway use experienced a cycle of growth that continued until the late 1950s.

The Significance of the ‘Fairy’ for the Cultural Archaeology of Same-Sex Male Desire in Spain, 1850-1930

This article takes one representation of male homo-sexuality in Spain - the ‘fairy’ (or marica as he was often termed at the time)1 - in order to assess its importance with respect to framing other expressions of homosexuality and masculinity in general in the years 1850-1930. The argument here, following the work of George Chauncey with respect to New York gay sub-cultures, is that the effeminate form of homosexuality, as discursive representation and actual lived experience, can be viewed by the historian as a kind of benchmark by which many other forms of homosexuality were considered in the major Spanish cities by the 1920s.

Opiates or cocaine: mortality from acute reactions in six major Spanish cities. State Information System on Drug Abuse (SEIT) Working Group.

To describe temporal and geographical variations in mortality from acute reactions to opiates or cocaine and the demographic and toxicological characteristics of persons who died from these in major Spanish cities between 1983 and 1991. Descriptive study. Data were obtained retrospectively from pathologists' reports. Cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, and Bilbao. Deaths from acute reactions to opiates or cocaine were defined as those in which pathologists' reports did not indicate any other cause of death and in which evidence was found of recent consumption of these drugs. The mortality rate from acute reactions to opiate/cocaine per 100,000 population in the six cities as a whole rose from 1.2 in 1983 to 8.2 in 1991. Average annual rates for the whole period ranged from 1.7 in Seville to 4.9 in Barcelona. The male/female rates ratio was 5.9:1. The mean age of persons who died rose from 25.1 years in 1983 to 28 years in 1991. In more than 90% of the cases in whom toxicological tests were undertaken opiates were detected, and the proportion in which benzodiazepines or cocaine were detected increased during the period studied. Between 1983 and 1991 mortality from acute reactions to opiates/cocaine rose dramatically in major Spanish cities and significant differences in mortality between cities were found. Deaths were concentrated among men and young people. Acute drug reactions became one of the leading causes of death in persons 15-39 years of age, representing 11.1% of mortality from all causes in 1988 for this age group. Future studies should examine the relationship between the temporal and geographical variations in this type of mortality and various personal, environmental and social factors.

Indoor Radon Levels and Dose Estimation in Two Major Spanish Cities

Indoor radon levels obtained exposing 337 passive dosemeters over two period of 3 months, in Madrid and Barcelona, the two major cities in Spain, are presented. Taking advantage of this survey, a larger one is now in progress. The radon concentration annual averages are 68.5 Bq.m-3 and 40.2 Bq.m-3 for Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. Seasonal variations in the range of 40–60% were found. Only 3.2% of the values were above 200 Bq.m-3. The importance of the ground as a source of indoor radon is confirmed by lower concentrations in the upper floors. Furthermore, dwellings in Madrid located over arkosic soil show, in general, higher values. In accordance with the usual parameters from UNSCEAR, annual effective doses calculated for Madrid and Barcelona are 1.9 mSv and 1.1 mSv, respectively. Gamma doses have been evaluated in some dwellings in the Madrid area using a TLD environmental monitoring system. A mean value of 150 nGy.h-1 has been estimated.