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Cycling through the white villages of Andalusia on Spain’s implausibly smooth roads, under warm blue skies, is pretty much my dream holiday. And for me holidays are often about the contrasts, for good or ill, that we draw with life back home. Aside from the obvious absence of potholes, what struck me most as we meandered through those villages was the fastidious care given to their public realm. With pavements and kerbs the responsibility of residents - constantly seen sweeping up the dust and occasional litter from in front of their houses - and the busy village plazas and public spaces falling to the ubiquitous municipal worker. However small or poor a village seemed to be, their civic pride was self-evident. And I suspect Spain’s uniquely chaotic system of local government has something to do with this. Predominantly a bottom up, demand-led arrangement, albeit with a hefty dose of top-down coordination, it has evolved out of the Franco era. As heterogeneous and hyper-local as ours is homogenous and centralised, local government in Spain seems specifically tailored to suit its people with the precise form being largely determined by local preference. Messy it may be, but if citizens feel truly engaged, isn’t that the point?
Best wishes
Angus Hardie, Director
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