Strategies of Spanish Municipalities to Fight Climate Change

Local governments in Spain are responsible for key tasks that play a key role in mitigating climate change causes and adapting to its challenges such as mobility, physical planning, waste management or water supply and treatment, etc. These municipal policies have in addition the added value of the knowledge of the territory they are based on and the possibility of involving the population. Against this background, this contribution aims at providing current empirical knowledge on how Spanish local governments face climate change by analyzing diversity and patterns of common behavior in their strategies and their causes. The study draws on own data from 22 municipalities in the metropolitan area of Madrid, where the authors have gathered information applying questionnaires and conducting semi-structured interviews. It firstly profiles local governmental action in terms of priorities, trends, evolution, specific actions, organization and networks and secondly it attempts at explaining variety pointing to socioeconomic and political factors.