Southern countries are undergoing a severe economic crisis that has renewed debates about the available strategies to economize their public resources. Political leaders have launched a wide range of different strategies aimed at reducing spending. According to generally accepted political discourse, drastic actions should be taken to guarantee economic and financial sustainability in times of austerity. We explore the main measures adopted by Spanish municipalities in order to examine their impact in budgetary terms. First of all, we identify the most frequently implemented mechanisms including organizational structure, public services and operational economic restructuration. After their quantification, we monitor the presence and impact of each set of policies to analyse the relationship between concrete measures and effective economic impact. The effective reduction of budgets is being implemented but data shows that local governments are resilient to non-compulsory changes. The 'government at a distance' policy pursued by the central state administration has effectively

The current study takes stock of the accumulated experience in political participation at municipal elections of non-EU citizens in 2011, 2015 and 2019. It does so by framing the data and outcomes within the existing regulatory framework in Spain, a framework that very strongly conditions such participation. The text reviews the implications of the model of selective recognition of the right to vote (based on the voter’s nationality), and analyzes certain legal conditions steaming from the requirements of reciprocity, residence or previous census registration. The authors consider that the cumulative impact of those conditions is responsible for the very low electoral turnout in non-EU citizens participation. Lastly, the authors present some ideas to overcome such effect and make the most of the present model, at least until its replacement in municipal elections by a truly universal suffrage model.