Interest Groups in Spain: what’s new?

The classic literature on interest groups in Spain identifies a number of critical issues that somehow downplays the potential contribution of organised interests to the policy process. To name a few, Spanish interest groups are charted by low membership; the preeminence of socioeconomic groups over cause-seeking ones; a somewhat weak institutionalisation of political exchange; flawed neocorporatist structures; government-driven policy initiative; as well as poor organisational transparency. Amidst the agenda of institutional reforms and the activation of civil mobilisation lately, can we identify any substantial transformations in the field of interest groups in Spain as a result of the many changes occurred in Spain over the last decade? This paper offers empirical evidence of some relevant changes in the field of interest groups (i.e. establishment of lobbying registers; increase of internal transparency; regionalisation of neocorporatist structures), as well as confirms the permanence of few traditional trends (i.e. low membership; government-driven policy initiative in key policy arenas).