System In Spain Research Articles

Territorial Politics and the Party System in Spain: Continuity and Change since the Financial Crisis, Caroline Gray (2020)

Review of: Territorial Politics and the Party System in Spain: Continuity and Change since the Financial Crisis, Caroline Gray (2020) Abingdon: Routledge, 167 pp., ISBN 978-1-85743-983-0, h/bk, £84.00, ISBN 978-0-42929-006-0, e/bk, £25.89

Imported cystic echinococcosis in Spain: a systematic review.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonosis caused by Echinococcus granulosus (sensu lato). It is a neglected tropical disease with a global distribution, affecting an estimated 2-3 million people globally. Official reporting systems in Spain lack information concerning imported cases and their country of origin. This is a systematic review of the literature that was performed to obtain published cases of immigrant patients diagnosed with CE in Spain. From the 21 included articles, a total of 84 cases of CE imported into Spain were documented from 1995 to 2018, with an average age of 33.2years. The main countries of origin of the patients were Morocco with 30 cases (35.7%), Romania with 12 cases (14.3%) and Peru with 8 cases (9.5%). The most involved organ was the liver (28 cases [33.3%]). We found discrepancies between the published cases of imported CE in Spain and those reported by official authorities. This review of the literature shows the lack of information and clarity in the mechanisms of CE notification in Spain. The disparity between these systems and the cases documented in the literature highlights a failure or shortcoming of the current reporting system.

MONTE-CARLO probabilistic valuation of concentrated solar power systems in Spain under the 2014 retroactive regulatory framework

The current Royal Decree 413/2014 legal-economic framework for concentrating solar power plants in Spain has been analysed from a probabilistic perspective. Due to the high inherent risk in most of the parameters defining this economic regime, the use of a probabilistic model is proposed to perform the economic valuation of these facilities. A methodology composed of different steps has been developed and applied to a representative concentrating solar power plant type with thermal energy storage. This method has proven useful for distinguishing the input parameters to be considered as stochastic by using a sensitivity analysis, and also for performing the probabilistic valuation by using the discounted cash flow-Monte Carlo analysis. The results have revealed a great variability in the several output economic indicators considered. In general terms, substantial reductions in the profitability of these facilities have been evidenced with respect to the deterministic analysis under the current reality of the sector.

Revisiting Cattle Temperament in Beef Cow-Calf Systems: Insights from Farmers' Perceptions about an Autochthonous Breed.

Simple SummaryTemperament is a key issue in beef cattle production systems, as it defines the responses of animals to human handling and to potentially challenging or fear-eliciting situations. However, little is known about how farmers define or assess temperament. Focus group discussions were carried out in order to analyze the perceptions of farmers regarding a series of temperament traits of animals, focusing on the Pyrenean cattle breed. Farmers described animal temperament using several adjectives such as “strong”, “aggressive”, “nervous”, “fearful”, “brave”, or “smart”, which account for their integrative vision of this concept. They reported a differential long-term development of the temperament of cows and bulls and mentioned that external features are not reliable indicators of temperament as compared with animal behavior. Sensory acuity, such as sight, hearing, and smell, were thought to be related to temperament. The results of this study are useful to better understand the decisions of farmers about cattle buying, selling, or culling, and their perspective about temperament should be considered in the research and design of genetic improvement schemes.Understanding temperament is an important part of cattle production since undesirable temperament may cause serious problems associated with aggression, maternal care, and human safety. However, little is known about how farmers define or assess temperament, especially in autochthonous cattle breeds. The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of farmers about the temperament of the Pyrenean cattle breed with special attention to beef cow-calf systems in Spain. The methodology used to obtain the information was focus group discussions (FGD). Farmers defined temperament as a behavioural response to challenging situations imposed by human handling. Specific terms used were related to active or passive reactions to fear (e.g., “strong”, “aggressive”, “nervous”, “fearful”). The speed of response to stimuli was also important. Female temperament was thought to become more docile with age while bull temperament was more variable. Maternal aggressiveness was highlighted as a potential human safety problem, but also desirable in an extensively bred animal who may need to defend calves against predators. Anatomical characteristics were seen as unreliable predictors of temperament, while behavioural indicators were more widely used, such as “alertness”, which was a general trait of the breed, and “gaze”, which, when associated with an alert expression, suggests a potential threat. Sensory acuity, such as sight and smell, were thought to be related with temperament in some FGDs but there was no overall agreement as to whether different behavioural responses were due to differences in sensory acuity. The results from the study could be useful during training programs or in the development of new genetic selection schemes and evaluation protocols involving cattle temperament.

(Ne)opravdanost primene radnopravnih pravila o zaštiti od otkaza na samozaposlena lica

In this paper the rights of employees and self-employed persons and the distinction between them are analysed, with the special focus on dismissal protection. Using the comparative and normative method, the author analyses these legal questions in legal systems in Spain, Austria, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland, and the United States of America, including the existence of the mid-category of semi-dependent self-employed persons in the first three abovementioned jurisdictions and practical consequences of their existence. Dismissal protection of self-employed persons represents a legal question that is not sufficiently researched in comparison to the dismissal protection of employees. The hypothesis of the author in this paper has been based on the opinion that self-employed persons who work for others are justifiably deprived of dismissal protection, unlike semi-dependent self-employed persons who are unjustifiably deprived of it, especially because the second mentioned category does not experience entrepreneurial risks and chances. Also, the question of dismissal protection of self-employed persons is very relevant when we consider the amount of misuse of this occurrence and cost savings which employers often have when employing them. In the end, de lege ferenda solutions and their implications for other legal systems are proposed by the author of the paper.

A GIS-Based evaluation of the motorcycle sharing systems in Spain

Sharing mobility is currently one of the most innovative features of metropolitan transportation and is rising along with the development of mobile phones and apps. Riders can rent bicycles, motorcycles, cars or PMVs like mopeds, usually electric, for short-time periods, usually per minute. Vehicle-sharing companies have entered the megalopolis, although the first sharing services were implemented in medium-size cities like Ulm in Germany, Cambridge in the USA or the main Swiss cities. The purpose of this study was to analyze the current motorcycle sharing systems deployed in Spain based on GIS tools. The research focused on several Spanish cities, the main characteristics of which are representative of the whole country. The study can therefore be useful for companies in the sharing sector interested in introducing the system in cities which do not yet have them, and for government administrations interested in this type of system. Furthermore, this research is a starting point for future comparative studies on Spain and other countries, or electric motorcycle and other e-vehicle-sharing systems.

Catalonia and Regional Self-Government in the First Quarter of the 20th Century

The Mancomunitat represents the first experience of self-government in Catalonia in the 20th century. This idea began to form among Catalan intellectuals in the second half of the 19th century, when the interests of the local bourgeoisie and the cultural elite of the region unexpectedly coincided in connection with the need to defend their interests before the central authorities. The Mancomunitat emerged at a time when the political system of the restoration was in crisis as the main monarchist parties were ousted from the political life of the region by Catalanists and Republicans. In these conditions, the Spanish government preferred to satisfy the demands of the nationalists, since they were a more conservative force and did not pretend to change the political system of Spain. As a result, the Catalan provinces were able to create the Mancomunitat, which allowed them to coordinate efforts to deal with administrative issues.

Cultura Audiovisual en la Formación Profesional del Sistema Educativo

Partiendo de una breve descripción del Sistema de Formación Profesional en España y de los elementos clave de su funcionamiento, como son las cualificaciones profesionales y los títulos de FP, se describirá posteriormente cuáles son aquellos estudios específicos que tienen relación directa con la formación audiovisual y sectores profesionales cercanos. El siguiente paso será describir cuáles son y cómo son los objetivos formativos de las enseñanzas audiovisuales en Formación Profesional. Asimismo, se señalarán tanto los elementos característicos como las claves, conflictos o puntos de mejora de estos estudios audiovisuales de Formación Profesional. Algunos ejemplos de dichos elementos son la demanda actual por parte de los estudiantes, la oferta de estos estudios en los centros educativos y las salidas profesionales. Además, el artículo contiene una reflexión sobre las metodologías, pedagogías y recursos utilizados en la FP de esta familia profesional, la idoneidad de los perfiles del profesorado y la participación de la empresa en la formación de los estudiantes. Al final se abre una especulación de si hay o no una necesidad en otros títulos de FP no específicos de los sectores de la comunicación audiovisual de introducir como competencia transversal la cultura audiovisual.

Analysis of District Heating and Cooling systems in Spain

Currently, district energy systems allow long-distance distribution of energy and the use of renewable energies, increasing their interest in the fight against global warming and the energy crisis. This paper presents the current deployment of heat and cold distribution networks in Spain in order to analyze their technical and economic potential, opportunities and future challenges. Subsequently, a comparison is made with the networks at an international level. It has been observed that heat and cold networks in Spain have increased substantially since 2013, but the installed power in 2019 of these systems to provide either heat or cold covers a very small proportion of the total demand. These systems in Spain are supplied mainly by biomass, natural gas or a combination of them, however, the use of renewable energy is still below the European average. It can be concluded that heating and cooling networks still do not have the potential to replace all the demand of the residential sector, although their implementation is important to achieve greater energy efficiency, more flexibility in supply, greater energy independence and to avoid the waste of energy resources. Thus, technical and financial barriers are identified.

Thinking in Vertical: A Practical Application of the Two-Stage Pension System in Spain

Public pay-as-you-go pension systems are affected by sustainability problems due to the increasing longevity of the population. These problems come to light when there is unsustainable growth in pension expenditure in relation to GDP. The usual arrangement is for public systems to be complemented by private systems that provide a lifetime annuity paid alongside the public pension. This approach, which is horizontal in its way of thinking, is the one that all countries apply; in it, we can expect to find lifetime annuities, which are expensive because they have to take increasing longevity into account, as well as sustainability problems in the public accounts. Therefore, in this paper, we put forward a system that maintains the complementarity between private and public, but considers it from a vertical point of view. By this, we mean that over a certain period of time, the private system would provide the pension in the form of a temporary income, without the need to consider such a high longevity risk, and then in the following period, the public system would take over. We apply the model to Spain, one of the countries whose pension systems are most affected by problems of sustainability, and observe a decrease in the relationship between pension expenditure and GDP using this two-stage model as opposed to the current system, for the period 2025–2068. This decrease can be achieved without decrease of benefits, change in the retirement age or increase of the contribution level.

Are Spanish Students Customers? Paradoxical Perceptions of the Impact of Marketisation on Higher Education in Spain

This article examines how higher education (HE) students are conceptualised in Spain, drawing on an analysis of policy and institutional narratives about such students, as well as on the perspectives of university staff and students themselves. More specifically, it will explore an interesting paradox that we encountered in our data: on one hand, marketisation is less firmly established in the HE system of Spain than in many other European countries, and policy and institutional narratives in Spain present the HE system as being relatively unmarketised. On the other hand, the staff and students we interviewed presented the Spanish HE system and the student experience as having been dramatically transformed by marketisation. In analysing this paradox, the article highlights the importance of not viewing countries as coherent educational entities. In addition – while broadly supporting scholarship that has pointed to a growing market orientation of national HE systems across Europe – the article draws attention to how the manner in which the marketisation of HE is experienced on the ground can be very different in different national contexts, and may be mediated by a number of factors, including perceptions about the quality of educational provision and the labour market rewards of a degree; the manner in which the private cost of education (if any) is borne by students and their families; and the extent to which marketisation may have become entrenched and normalised in the HE system of a country.

Франсиско Франко и социальная поли-тика в Испании в 1960-1970-е гг.

Social policy has been an important part of Francoist ideology since the early years of the regime. However, it was only in the 1960s, when the social security system in Spain appeared. During this time, the country experienced high economic growth, which allowed the Franco regime to increase social spending. For Francisco Franco himself, social policy in the 1960s became an important source of legitimacy of his rule. At the legislative level, the term "social services" appeared, and the state rather than private enterprises was made responsible for their provision. As a result, over the last 15 years of the Franco regime in Spain, a number of laws sought to unify the system of social services and gave more people access to them. Despite the progress, Franco's social policy preserved some previous shortcomings, i.e. a number of special social programs for certain categories of the population, as well as the fact that a significant part of social security was funded by the employees themselves.

To what extent does the European common agricultural policy affect key landscape determinants of biodiversity?

Agricultural intensification continues to threaten habitat and biological diversity in farmland. In Europe, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has established several measures to support biodiversity-fostering elements such as landscape features, semi-natural habitats and extensive land uses, together referred to as Green and Blue Infrastructure (GBI). However, CAP measures’ effectiveness to support GBI has not been accurately evaluated yet. We assess GBI occurrence across a variety of European agricultural systems covering a gradient of farming intensity and analyse to what extent the CAP is supporting their presence by enhancing farmer's awareness and the uptake of measures that foster GBI. We carried out habitat surveys in 115 Landscape Test Squares (LTS) of 500m × 500m in six case study areas, including arable land, pastures and mixed farming systems in Spain, Germany and Bulgaria. We mapped GBI including small landscape elements, in-field elements (both semi-natural and productive) and connectivity features. We used historical imagery to map changes on GBI occurrence in LTS from 2012 to 2018. We also used questionnaires with farmers and stakeholders on their GBI awareness and compared their answers to elements mapped. Results showed that landscape and in-field GBI occurrence was higher in extensive than in intensive farming systems regardless of the region, whereas the opposite was found for connectivity features (e.g. grassy strips). The analysis of habitat changes showed a small increase of certain biodiversity-fostering in-field GBI, but no substantial change in connectivity features or landscape elements. Moreover, a significant reduction of valuable GBI like grasslands was observed. There were several mismatches between the patterns of GBI identified by farmers and stakeholders and their mapped abundances. Our results indicate that the CAP has not substantially increased the availability of biodiversity-fostering GBI in these regions and that adopted features were mostly related to neutral or negative effects on biodiversity. Farmers’ perception of GBI features seems driven by production management decisions rather than by biodiversity concerns.

A Century of Water Supply Companies and Their Influence on the Development of Spanish Society (1842–1942)

During a certain period in the history of Spain, in the years of the Second Industrial Revolution, water companies played a very important role in managing a public service as necessary and complex as the supply of drinking water to the population. This article describes the emergence of these companies in the economic framework of the second half of the 19th century, as well as their expansion and territorial distribution, their evolution towards large companies that unified and monopolised the sector and their progressive decline in the 20th century, characterised by an increase in municipal control and influenced by different national and international war conflicts. The data collected in the different statistical yearbooks allows us to study these companies, and identify the characteristics of the modern drinking water system in Spain, together with the importance of foreign investment and the influence of these companies on the economic development of the time.

More Money, More Problems? Resource Dependence and Professionalization of Non-governmental Social Services Organizations in Southern Spain

This study analyzes the strategies displayed by non-governmental organizations in the social services sector to face the resource dependence on public administration in Southern Spain. We focus on the reorganization of the public subsidies system in Spain and its specific impact on the entities registered in Andalusia. In 2017, the Autonomous Communities assumed the management of a proportion of the subsidies with a charge to the Personal Income Tax for “social purposes,” which was previously managed by the General State Administration in its entirety. The case study combines the description of (a) the process of transferring the management of a line of subsidies from the state to the regional level, (b) the strategies of non-governmental organizations to face the context of instability and financial uncertainty, and (c) the impact of the regulatory bases of grant calls on programs implementation. First, the database with all the applications submitted in the calls of 2017 and 2018 is analyzed (n = 11,610 applications). Second, we describe the perception of the change in the management system, from the point of view of the third-sector social services entities. The combination of both strategies allows us to examine in detail the response of social service organizations to ensure the continuity of the budget and the continuity of services. The results show that the change in the management system gave rise to a wide debate among non-governmental social services organizations about the calls for grants managed by the regional government. However, the qualitative case study showed that the reaction of the entities has more to do with the needs of adaptation to an unstable, uncertain, and highly competitive financial environment, than with specific characteristics of grant calls.

May Measurement Month 2018: an analysis of blood pressure screening results from Spain.

Elevated blood pressure (BP) is the single most important contributing risk factor to the global disease burden, leading to over 10 million deaths each year. In Spain, hypertension (HTN) affects around 20% of the adult population and remains the greatest attributable cause of cardiovascular mortality. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a worldwide initiative aimed at increasing awareness of HTN and to improve the lack of screening programmes worldwide. An opportunistic cross-sectional survey of volunteers aged 18 and over was carried out in May 2018. Blood pressure measurement, the definition of HTN and statistical analysis followed the standard MMM protocol. Anthropometric data and responses to questionnaires on demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors were obtained as additional information. Screening sites mainly in community pharmacies, universities, primary care centres, HTN units, and cardiovascular departments in hospitals were set up across Spain as part of this initiative. In total, 7646 individuals (63.5% female) were screened during MMM18. After multiple imputation, 40.0% had HTN, of whom 74.4% were aware of their diagnosis and 69.6% were taking antihypertensive medication. Of individuals not receiving antihypertensive medication, 16.9% were hypertensive. Of individuals receiving antihypertensive medication, 36.4% had uncontrolled BP. MMM18 almost doubled the number of participants of MMM17 and was the largest BP screening campaign ever undertaken in Spain, showing that in the absence of systematic screening programmes for HTN, MMM can identify a great number of individuals at risk, increasing their awareness and attracting the interest of the healthcare system in Spain.

Cooperative Entrepreneurship Model for Sustainable Development

The main objective of this research is to contribute to the economic literature on cooperative entrepreneurship as a model for sustainable development, taking into account the special alignment of the cooperative principles (ICA) with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It offers new empirical evidence from Spain, based on Stakeholder Theory, about the differences between cooperatives (Coops) and Capitalist Firms (CFs) in relation to the distribution of economic value between the different stakeholders. For this purpose, panel data was analysed using the Correlated Random Effects approach. The results reveal that cooperative firms generate value for some of the stakeholders analysed, specifically for their partners and creditors, but no significant differences have been found with CFs in terms of workers and the state. In both cases, it can be inferred that the period analysed has influenced the results, since it has been found that, first, cooperatives adjust wages downward rather than dismiss workers during a recession, which is in line with previous research, and second, that their tax contribution to the state is lower because they are subject to a more favourable tax system in Spain.

Seven common misconceptions in bilingual education in primary education in Spain

Foreign language bilingual education has been common in many countries all over the world for many years after the Quebec issue in the 1970s. However, after all these years, bilingual education still remains as a criticized way of education. This research essay examined the most significant criticism by summarizing it into seven common misconceptions of the bilingual education schooling system in Spain in general education English-Spanish 1st—12th grade. A lot of criticism has been directed towards the differences between regular mainstream classes and bilingual classes especially in Primary education. This paper looks at seven commonly addressed issues. The paper especially focuses on Primary education but most revision matters also relate to secondary and even higher education. Special interest is paid to cognitive, social, economic, mode of bilingual education, role of the immigrant students and parents’ attitudes. The conclusion leads to the understanding that English-Spanish bilingual education is not pernicious but, on the contrary, benefits the cognitive a linguistic development of most school children. 
 Keywords: bilingual education; misconceptions; CLIL; immersion; cognitive; socio-economic;

El marco jurídico del sistema español de bibliotecas

Las bibliotecas públicas constituyen un instrumento único para acceder a la información y posibilitar el desarrollo cultural y social en aras del artículo 44 de la Constitución española que garantiza el derecho de todos los ciudadanos a la cultura. En virtud de la Carta Magna, las Comunidades Autónomas han asumido competencias plenas en materia de cultura y, en concreto, en bibliotecas. De forma que todas ellas han promulgado sus propias leyes para regular sus correspondientes sistemas bibliotecarios.
 Por ello, el presente trabajo pretende adentrarse en el marco jurídico de los sistemas bibliotecarios de España, teniendo en cuenta los tres niveles administrativos y prestando especial atención al régimen andaluz. Desde un punto de vista didáctico, se profundiza en la vigente normativa estatal partiendo de sus raíces legislativas primitivas para detenerse en un análisis comparativo de las diversas normas autonómicas, y, terminando con los aspectos más significativos que caracterizan el servicio público de bibliotecas municipales, así como las educativas.

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of the Spanish Electricity: Past, Present and Future Projections

This paper provides an investigation into the sustainability of the electrical system in Spain. The analysis covers historic inventories of power generation, installed capacity and technology mix since 1990 and also contemplates four alternative projections for 2030 and 2050. The sustainability is evaluated using eight indicators that provide objective information about the environmental (climate change, fossil depletion, ozone layer depletion, terrestrial acidification, human toxicity and photochemical smog), economic (levelized cost of electricity) and socio-economic (direct employment) performance of the system. The results show an increase in the magnitude of the environmental impacts between 1990 and 2008, due to a growing power demand triggered by economic expansion. After 2008, the environmental performance improves due to the economic recession and the penetration of renewable energies. Overall, the cost of power generation remains rather stable as rising expenses generated by renewables are compensated by a progressive reduction in the cost of fossil technologies. Direct employment generation has been strongly stimulated by the upsurge in renewables that has taken place in Spain after 2008. Regarding future scenarios, the results evidence that the most ambitious projections in terms of renewable penetration perform best in terms of environmental performance, employment generation and reduced costs (€/MWh). The significance of these benefits was particularly clear in the 2050 scenario. In the long term, the scenario considering higher fossil fuel contributions (ST) performed worst in all sustainability indicators.