Decentralization, mesogovernments, and the new logic of welfare provision in Spain

The Spanish welfare state incorporates elements of both Bismarckian and Beveridgean traditions, and can be labelled as a via media with respect to other existing regimes of social protection. It also represents a middle way of de-commodification and gendering, and of universal and means-tested access to services and benefits. Spain, thus, has reconstructed a medium-size system of social protection as compared to the countries of the European Union. The most relevant factor conditioning welfare development in Spain is the deep process of decentralisation both at the level of planning and policy implementation. Decentralisation of social services has had a much larger impact than privatisation. Social assistance is a power of the 'exclusive competence ' of Spanish mesogovernments (Comunidades Autónomas). These institutional actors have made use of these powers for purposes mainly of institutional legitimisation. Of great relevance for the completion of the ‘safety net ’ has been the implementation of the new regional programmes of rentas mínimas de inserción (minimum income benefits)