Thermal energy storage (TES) has been a prominent topic of scientific and industrial research for the last decades as TES increases efficiency, reliability and economic feasibility of solar energy systems. Several TES technologies are today feasible and competitive from a scientific-technical, sustainable and economic point of view. However, the social awareness and acceptance of TES has not followed such a development, as socio-cultural and legal aspects to be considered for their broader implementation hinder it. The main objective of this paper is to analyse social and cultural barriers to TES adoption in the Spanish context. For this proposal, we use quantitative and qualitative data provided from professionals and experts of the building sector. Hereby the main ideas arising from the analysis: the economic crisis of 2008 and the poor condition of the existing building stock prevent the adoption of extensive retrofitting measures including energy efficiency solutions such as TES' while TES is regarded as an emerging market in Mediterranean climates such as Spanish. The lack of expertise of professionals hinders the transmission of TES benefits to occupants. Besides, there is little dissemination of good practices and professionals are suspicious of the long term performance of such technologies.

La crisis de la COVID-19 se ha caracterizado por una mayor fragilidad del mercado laboral, especialmente en los países del sur de Europa. Sin embargo, los datos oficiales no reflejan con exactitud las transformaciones reales de sus mercados de trabajo. En este contexto, este trabajo compara el comportamiento del mercado laboral de los colectivos vulnerables de población (jóvenes, mujeres e inmigrantes) en tres países del sur de Europa con un análisis cruzado de datos a lo largo del tiempo. Para ello, hemos desarrollado un indicador alternativo de paro oculto que recupera e incluye a los desempleados de las categorías de subempleo involuntario e inactividad. Nuestros análisis incluyen datos de España, Portugal e Italia, y toman como base la encuesta European Union-Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS). Nuestros resultados muestran que el impacto del desempleo en el sur de Europa se mide mejor cuando se utiliza un indicador ampliado, especialmente cuando se analizan los casos de colectivos vulnerables. Esta herramienta muestra un gran potencial analítico para desvelar el desempleo oculto en el contexto de la pandemia COVID-19.

Living in a cohabitation union is a more and more popular way of life in the contemporary societies. Changes in family behaviour and formation, such as increases in births outside of marriage, age at fi rst marriage, and divorce have occurred in western countries with diff erent paces and intensity as the elements of Second Demographic Transition (SDT). Th e aim of the article is to investigate the main determinants which infl uence attitudes towards living in a cohabitation union in two catholic countries: Spain and Poland. Using the European Social Survey conducted in Poland and Spain in two diff erent moments 2006 and 2018, we carried out ordinal regression models in order to confi rm which variables aff ect more the choice of this union. Th e results showed that educational level, placement on the left -right scale and religion are the prevailing predictors in both countries and both periods of time, but with diff erent intensities, being greater for the Polish case.

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Th e paper focuses on the analysis of recent family policies on selected programs and actions in Poland and Spain. Th e analysis was made on the basis of a comparison of three spheres of supporting the families in both countries: fi nancial support, institutional support and conditions of parental leaves. Th e main data sources came from the OECD and Ministries in Poland and Spain. Results show that there are diff erences between Poland and Spain in terms of funds assigned to the support of families and children, in terms of the length of maternity and paternity leaves, the level and types of fi nancial support, and also the types of institutional support.