Challenges of the Welfare State: The Spanish Case

Recent events - especially the economic crisis- have revealed the need to maintain the welfare state, especially in developed countries (the most attacked by the crisis) which are also hit the hardest by the recession and job losses. On the one hand, the increase in demand for social services joins the decreased capacity to collect taxes as a result of the fall in economic activity and declining social contributions because of the rising unemployment. On the other, economic difficulties to prop up the welfare of citizens have caused the most unrest and political debate about whether social spending is precisely that what must suffer cuts to balance the public accounts. The answer of each country to this question will depend on its ability to meet new challenges without compromising the future of younger generations. The objective of this paper is to discuss the Spanish model of welfare, taking into special consideration the demographic effects of an aging population and the reversal of migration flows in order to discern which direction and what concrete measures can answer the previous question. This has been a response that in the Spanish case, has highlighted the need to review the excessive benevolence in granting a benefits system and the existing pockets of fraud in the tax system.

Analytical Model of Transmedia Storytelling Ecosystems in Audiovisual Fiction: The Spanish Model of «The Ministry of Time»

Transmedia storytelling has been widely researched as a new topic in the last decade. The transmedia field includes many publications exploring the topic from different perspectives, but it lacks a standard methodology that allows the measurement of different case studies under a unified pattern. This research suggests a model for transmedia ecosystems that will allow researchers to study them in-depth. Authors suggest a potential configuration based on a simplified image of the transmedia universe, in which projects are divided into well-differentiated narrative systems, allowing the obtention of precise details on their basic functioning. This paper provides an original methodology able to observe the transmedia universes from different perspectives. To test the validity of the paradigm, the model has applied to the case study of the Spanish-fiction product, The Ministry of Time (El Ministerio del Tiempo, in the original language), because of the multiplicity of content renders its study as highly efficient. Thus, we encounter a new transmedia universe that allows precise measurement and the obtention of conclusive data. The positive results confirm that the new methodological approach meets the initial expectations. At the same time, it offers the possibility of obtaining much more information than the one the limited space of this article allows to explain, which opens the door to new lines of research in the future.

El modelo irlandés de protección de los derechos fundamentales

El modelo irlandés de derechos fundamentales resulta de utilidad para la comparación con España. Como elementos positivos que podrían inspirar una mejora de nuestro modelo pueden mencionarse: la apertura expresa y argumentada del catálogo de los derechos; un mecanismo institucional de declaración de incompatibilidad entre la ley nacional y el CEDH; el llamamiento frecuente al referéndum de reforma constitucional; y un sistema más accesible y menos politizado de control de constitucionalidad de las leyes. Como problemas comunes a ambos países, que manifiestan su retraso en relación con las tendencias recientes del Derecho internacional y de la doctrina, cabe mencionar: una resistencia a superar la concepción formal de la igualdad y a reconocer derechos fundamentales sociales, y un uso débil e incoherente del principio de proporcionalidad.The irish model of fundamental rights provides an interesting comparator for the Spanish model. Positive elements which could inspire an improvement of our model: the express development of unenumerated rights within the current catalog of rights; a statutory mechanism for declaration of incompatibility between national law and the ECHR; a frequent call to reform the constitution via a referendum process; and a more accessible and less politicized system of constitutional review of laws. Problems common to both countries, are the delay in implementation of recent trends in international law and doctrine; it is also worth mentioning: a resistance to overcoming the formal conception of equality and recognizing fundamental socio-economic rights, and a weak and incoherent use of the principle of proportionality.

Spa tourism opportunities as strategic sector in aiding recovery from Covid-19: The Spanish model

Spa tourism has been experiencing over the last decades significant changes in its nature. Supply and demand have changed in recent years, impacting on the function of thermal centers in general, and on the use of their base resource, mineral-medicinal water, in particular. Recently, this productive sector has been forced to resituate itself due to the unexpected outbreak of the Covid pandemic whose impacts on the sector are still to be fully calibrated, although it has already halted a large part of economic activity and global flows of people and goods. The present investigation examines the function and potential that spas have as health agents. In the case of Spain, this research note reflects on the opportunities, for a repositioning of this activity in the tourist dynamics that arise during and after a period of crisis.

Psychometric Properties of the Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory in Ecuador

Perfectionistic Automatic Thoughts (PATs) are currently being studied due to their association with maladaptive variables. This study aims to validate the Spanish version of the Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory (PCI) in a sample of Ecuadorian undergraduates as well as to analyze latent mean differences across sex. The sample was composed by 3060 undergraduates (Mage = 22.7, SD = 2.46). The Spanish model of the PCI composed by 17 items divided into three first-order dimensions (perfectionistic concerns, strivings, and demands) and a second-order factor was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. Acceptable levels of reliability and factorial invariance across sex were observed. Higher latent mean scores for males in comparison with females in the second-order factor of the PCI were found. The three dimensions of the PCI significantly and positively correlated with interpersonal difficulties. Overall, results demonstrate that the Spanish version of the PCI is a valid and reliable measure to evaluate PATs in Ecuadorian undergraduates.

Decentralization in Spain

The chapter seeks to provide an analytical and historical interpretation of the evolution and workings of the Spanish model of decentralization, the Estado autonómico, and its territorial politics, its determinants and consequences. On the basis of a comparative diagnosis and explanation of its territorial model, such as the degree of devolution acquired or its territorial reforms and its dynamics, the chapter utilizes the broad recent literature, legal, political or economic, dealing with the history, institutional design, political operation and consequences of the territorial system in Spain, so as to evaluate the difficulties and governance results of Spain’s version of federalism. After describing the Spanish territorial institutions and dynamics and their mutual relationships and consequences on stability and adaptability, conflict potential and autonomy protection, the chapter argues that the Spanish decentralization model shows both centrifugal and centripetal forces, and features traits of several types of federations, and therefore of problems typically afflicting them.

John Williams, Visions of the End in Medieval Spain: Catalogue of Illustrated Beatus Commentaries on the Apocalypse and Study of the Geneva Beatus, ed. Therese Martin, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2017

This is the first study to bring together all twenty-nine extant copies of the medieval Commentary on the Apocalypse, which was originally written by Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana. John Williams, a renowned expert on the Commentary, shares a lifetime of study and offers new insights on these strikingly illustrated manuscripts. As he shows, the Commentary responded to differing monastic needs within the shifting context of the Middle Ages. Of special interest is a discussion of the recently discovered Geneva copy: one of only three commentaries to be written outside of the Iberian Peninsula, this manuscript shows both close affinities to the Spanish model and fascinating deviations from it in terms of its script and style of illustrations.

Spanish Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Sport Motivation Scale-II with High School Physical Education Students

The objective of this work was to provide evidence on the dimensionality of the Spanish version of Sport Motivation Scale II adapted to physical education (SMS-II-PE) in one of its hypothesized models (6 factors). A sample of 1055 secondary education students of the Region of Murcia, Spain, aged between 12 and 17 years, was used. As an instrument, the SMS-II-PE was used. The factorial structure was examined with confirmatory factor analysis, and internal consistency and invariance by sex were evaluated. The results confirmed that the Spanish model of 6 factors and 18 items presented good adjustment indicators and is valid for its application in the educational field of Physical Education lessons.