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THE SPANISH GREENS AND THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY SOCIAL MOVEMENT : A REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE Ann McFall PhD in Politics The University of Edinburgh 2012 Declaration 10 th of February, 2012 I declare that, except where otherwise indicated, this thesis is entirely my own work, and that no part of it has been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Ann McFall 2 Abstract The present study sets out to challenge a common assumption that Green politics is virtually non-existent in Spain. This assumed state of affairs has been attributed to a number of factors including a materialist society which prioritises economic growth, Spain’s political culture and, finally, the country’s electoral system. The result, according to the few scholars who include Spain in their studies, is a country with a weak political ecology social movement (PESM) and a Green party that enjoys only ‘trivial support’ (Mair 2001:103). As will be demonstrated, such assumptions are based on an insufficient knowledge of political ecology in Spain. The lack of knowledge has resulted in Spain’s green movements and parties being routinely misinterpreted and, indeed, overlooked. The first and most glaring misconception is many scholars’ persistence in referring to the ‘Spanish Green party’ as if a single party existed. In fact, the ‘Spanish Greens’ comprise not one national party but a variable and variegated number of different political parties, a few of which have certainly achieved a measure of electoral success (depending, of course, on how success is defined). Furthermore, it will be shown that reasons often given for the failure of the Green parties – such as the country’s alleged lack of interest in environmental matters – overlook other more pertinent factors such as, for example, tensions between the Spanish Greens and the environmental movement organisations (EMO), the nationalist factor and continuing tensions between the ‘green-greens’ and the ‘red-greens’. Despite numerous problems at party level, the present study will show that Spain’s PESM is as vigorous as – though different from - that of other countries which are reputed to be environmental leaders. To pursue this argument, the thesis will provide an overview of Spain’s Green parties, setting these within the cultural and historical context of the broader PESM to which they belong. Drawing on territorial politics literature, the thesis will, in particular, demonstrate that the territorial dimension – that is, Spain’s division into 17 autonomous regions – has been one of the neglected but determining factors contributing to the problems besetting the Spanish Greens. It will also be argued that, in its own way, the efforts of Spanish ecologists have undoubtedly contributed towards the ‘piecemeal’ greening of Spain. The arguments are further developed through two in-depth case studies focusing on political ecology, and more particularly Green parties, in two of Spain’s regions, Catalonia and Andalucia. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my principal supervisor, Dr. Elizabeth Bomberg, for her endless patience, expertise, and her conscientious, extensive and extremely helpful comments on my work at every stage of this process. I would also like to thank my second supervisor, Dr. Wilfried Swenden, for his input – and most particularly for helping me to place my notions about sub-national politics within an already existing theoretical framework. By and large, because I was a part-time student, and working full-time, I had relatively little contact with the university and benefitted little from the extra stimulation that this would have provided. Apart from being grateful to the university for its well-stocked library and its lovely location just off the Meadows (making travelling by bicycle to the University a great pleasure) I can’t think of anyone else who I am beholden to. However, my thanks must go above all to my extremely patient partner, Robert, who valiantly proof read my thesis in progress, acted as a sounding board and has therefore acquired unnecessary expertise on Spanish ecologism. I am, above all, very indebted to him for his support in doing much more than his fair share of running a home so that I could complete this thesis while working full-time. I would also like to thank my bemused children, who have watched me perversely struggling on this thesis and have always desisted from making rude comments on the subject. The same goes for my colleagues. As I work in the Spanish section of a university languages department, three Spanish colleagues (Raquel, Pablo and José María) have provided endless salutary reminders of the fact that others are not so interested in the Spanish ecology movement! Special thanks go to one colleague, Pedro, for his insider knowledge on Andalusian Greens and its ecologists. Last but not least, I would like to thank the Spanish ecologists who generously gave of their time and took great trouble to answer all my questions. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DECLARATION 2 ABSTRACT 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4 CONTENTS 5 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES 10 THE USE OF ACRONYMS AND SPANISH TERMS 12 LIST OF ACRONYMS 13 CHAPTER 1: HARDLY A STORY OF UNADULTERATED SUCCESS ? 18 1.1 INTRODUCTION 18 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 19 1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 22 1.4 RATIONALE OF THE PRESENT STUDY 24 1.4.1 An understudied area 25 Spain in comparative studies and party literature 25 A comparative view of Spain and the PESM 26 1.4.2 The story so far 30 1.5 KEY DIMENSIONS 37 1.5.1 The regional dimension 37 1.5.2 The political culture dimension 38 1.5.3 The social movement dimension 39 1.5.4 The ideological dimension: red or green 40 1.5.5 The personal dimension: a family at loggerheads 40 1.5.6 The pragmatic di mension: the piecemeal approach 41 1.6 METHODOLOGY AND METHODS 42 1.6.1 A case study approach 43 1.6.2 Data collection 45 Primary sources 45 Secondary sources 47 1.7 THESIS OUTLINE 48 5 CHAPTER 2: FRAMING ECOLOGISM IN SPAIN 50 2.1 MANY SHADES OF GREEN AND COMPETING CONCEPTS 50 2.1.1 Ecologism versus environmentalism 54 2.1.2 Deep ecology 56 2.1.3 Eco-socialism and social ecology 59 Anti-capitalism versus anti-industrialism 61 Marxism versus anarchism 63 2.2 IS THE GREEN IDEA POLITICALLY DEAD ? 65 2.2.1 Ecological modernisation 66 2.2.2 Sustainable development 69 2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ACTORS IN SPAIN 71 2.3.1 The Spanish environmental movement 71 2.3.2 PESM 74 2.3.3 EMO or NGO 78 2.3.4 Green Parties 79 Green party formation 83 Green party organisation 84 Green party strategies 85 The Greens and the Left 86 Realo or Fundi 88 A small party 88 Yesterday’s party 89 2.4 CIRCUMVENTING THE ‘WINDING , SNARLING VINE ’ 90 2.4.1 Multiple interpretations of POS 91 2.4.2 A justification of the ‘circumvention’ 95 2.4.3 POS factors 99 CHAPTER 3: CULTURE AND TERRITORY 102 3.1 POLITICAL CULTURE , CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE PESM IN SPAIN 103 3.1.1 Political culture 103 3.1.2 Spanish civil society 104 3.1.3 Spaniards’ political engagement 108 3.1.4 Elections and attitudinal surveys 109 6 3.2 SPAIN AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAGGARD 112 3.3 THE TERRITORIAL DIMENSION 118 3.3.1 El Estado de las Autonomías (The State of the Autonomies) 118 3.3.2 A nation of nations? 123 3.3.3 The Two Spains 128 3.4 THE TERRITORIAL DIMENSION AS A KEY FACTOR WITHIN THE 129 SPANISH PESM 3.4.1 Territorial politics as a constraining factor for LV 130 3.4.2 The regional dimension: key to understanding LV 134 3.5 CONCLUSION 137 CHAPTER 4: THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY MOVEMENT IN SPAIN 138 4.1 THE ORIGINS OF POLITICAL ECOLOGY IN SPAIN : 1970-1986 138 4.2 THE SPANISH GREENS 1983-2009: 144 4.2.1 The Early Years: 1984-1993 144 European Parliament and General Elections 147 Regional and local elections 149 The death of Los Verdes 150 4.2.2 A Confederation of Green Parties is born too late: 1995-2010 150 General elections 154 European Parliament elections 155 Regional elections 157 Local elections 160 4.2.3 Reviewing some key themes 163 Party fragmentation 164 The nationalist question 166 A strategic divide: Green-Green versus Red-Green 168 The party or movement dichotomy 170 Personalism 172 4.3 POLITICAL ECOLOGY BEYOND THE PARTIES : 1986-2010 174 4.3.1 The Spanish PESM 175 4.3.2 The Water Wars 180 4.3.3 Ecologistas en Acción 184 4.4 CONCLUSION 189 7 CHAPTER 5: THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY MOVEMENT IN 191 CATALONIA 5.1 CATALONIA ’S REGIONAL SPECIFICITY 192 5.1.1 Catalonia: a nation 192 5.1.2 Catalonia’s party system 196 5.2 CATALONIA ’S ECOLOGISTS 199 5.3 THE CATALAN GREEN PARTIES 204 5.3.1 The Catalan Greens (1983-1993) 208 5.3.2 Els Verds 1993-2010 212 5.4 THE FAILURE OF THE CATALAN GREENS 216 5.4.1 The nationalist question 216 5.4.2 Party competition and encroachment 219 5.4.3 Personalism 221 5.5 CATALONIA