Spain

The Environmental Tax Policy Review of Andalusia provides a detailed review of the environmentally related tax framework in the areas of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, water usage and pollution, and waste and circular economy in the Autonomous Region of Andalusia, Spain. For each thematic area, the study identifies the scope for action at the regional level, assesses how Andalusia’s existing environmentally related taxes align with environmental tax policy principles and provides strategic recommendations to support Andalusia to improve environmental outcomes and enhance national and global environmental performance.

Before the pandemic hit, the city of Bilbao had the highest economic growth in Spain from 2000 to 2018, driven by a shift from heavy industry to a service-based economy. It also benefitted from a burgeoning tourism and culture sector, thanks to developments such as the Guggenheim Museum in 1998. Plagued with high unemployment in the late 90s, unemployment started to drop until 2008. However, such promising trends were unable to shield the city from the 2008 global financial and later COVID-19 crisis. This study assesses inequality in Bilbao and how the COVID-19 pandemic and the city’s response and recovery measures have affected its inclusive growth agenda. It also examines how Bilbao’s approach to deploying a smart city strategy and localising the SDGs contributes to the city’s overall resilience and inclusive growth objectives.

A first step to implement effective migrant integration policies is to know who does what in policy sectors key to integration. Responding to this need, this paper offers policy makers a tool to understand the organisation of public action in key sectors for integration - Employment, Education, Housing, and Health/Welfare – in a sample of 10 OECD countries: Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands. The complexity of the division of powers among levels of government calls for coordination mechanisms between actors, whatever the level of decentralisation. Besides, it throws lights on subnational governments’ role in integrating migrants and enabling them to participate to local development for the benefits of all. The geographic differences that exist in migrant presence and outcomes mean countries should build on local authorities' knowledge of local realities, aptitudes to coordinate different policy fields at the relevant scale and cooperate with non-governmental organisations.

Andalusia is the largest mining producer in Spain, the second-largest copper producer in the EU and a leader in marble and gypsum production. The region benefits from two distinct mining subsectors, each with a rich network of suppliers that are relevant for local development: the metallic mining sector (e.g. copper and zinc), which accounts for most of the regional mining production, and the non-metallic sector (ornamental rocks, aggregates and industrial minerals), which is highly dispersed across the territory. The regional mining value chain has the potential to leverage the increasing global and EU demand for sustainable raw materials and thus become a frontrunner in leading technologies and circular processes for environmentally sustainable mining. This study identifies how Andalusia can build on its strengths and address current and future challenges to improve regional productivity and well-being while accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy and assisting EU climate goals.

While the COVID-19 crisis has put many economic activities on hold, notably tourism, a pillar of Granada’s economy, it has also created a momentum towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns, in line with carbon neutrality goals. The pandemic also magnified the need for new urban paradigms while increasing awareness on the potential of the circular economy to transition to low carbon cities and regions, whilst also stimulating economic growth, creating jobs, and improving people’s lives and social well-being. This report summarises the findings of a two-year policy dialogue with the city of Granada in Spain, and provides recommendations and a vision to transition to a circular economy. It draws on Granada’s own experience with the transformation of a wastewater treatment plant into a bio factory in 2015, which contributed to increased water reuse and the production of new material from waste. The report argues that the city of Granada can play a role as a promoter, facilitator and enabler of the circular economy. This will require a collective and coordinated approach across all stakeholders and levels of government.

This report explores the spatial dimension of productivity in the co-operatives of Italy, a country where they make up a relatively large share of total national employment. Co-operatives play a countercyclical role in job creation during crises. In a post-pandemic world, they could make a major contribution to steering the economy towards inclusiveness and sustainability. Productivity growth ensures that co-operatives can achieve both economic and social goals in the future. This report applies a place-based approach to investigate the issue of productivity in co-operatives, given their many interdependencies with local communities. Novel evidence points to the local factors that are linked with the concentration and productivity of co-operatives across regions, sectors and firm size classes in Italy. A comparison with other Italian firms as well as with Spanish co-operatives and other Spanish firms serves to illustrate how productivity performance varies across space and firm types. This report constitutes an empirical test for the analytical approach developed by the OECD Spatial Productivity Lab.

Overcoming administrative fragmentation to build an integrated public transport network is one of the main actions taken in the Madrid Region to improve mobility. The lack of a regional development plan and the poor linkages between transport and urban development policies are, however, the main obstacles to fostering accessibility. The paper argues that a regional development plan and spatial planning to underpin transport investment decisions are needed to make the most of transport infrastructure and foster growth, well-being and effective environmental policies. This paper aims to reveal policy lessons from the experience of the Madrid Region in fostering urban mobility and accessibility, which could inspire policy change in other EU cities.

COVID-19 is testing the Basque Country’s (Spain) resilience. Before COVID-19, employment indicators were recovering from the 2008 crisis, while automation of production was underway. Job quality remained low despite rising educational attainment in the region. COVID-19 is likely to accelerate structural changes in the labour market, including automation and digitalisation. Firms may increasingly look to technology as a way to pandemic proof their operations, while individuals may develop preferences for automated services as opposed to face to face contact. This OECD report sheds light on the potential impacts of automation on the Basque labour market, including which types of jobs and groups of workers are most likely to be impacted, in light of COVID-19 and other labour market changes. The report also highlights the critical role to be played by employment services, training policies and social dialogue to help people and firms make labour market transitions while upholding social cohesion. The report delves into how the Basque Country’s employment and skills system can continue to be at the front line as the crisis evolves.

This paper explores the linkages between regional strategies for the social economy and regional development in four EU countries: France, Spain, Sweden and Poland. It provides a comparative perspective of regional strategies for the social economy (Section 1), based on i) the level of recognition of the social economy itself, ii) multi-level governance arrangements, iii) the regional strategic priority given to the social economy and iv) financial resources available for regional strategies. It gives examples of strategies for the social economy in selected regions in the four countries to document the diversity of practice (Section 2). It outlines conclusions and policy orientations (Section 3) to help reinforce the positive impact of regional strategies for the social economy on regional development.