Corruption in urban planning in Spain

Abstract

Urban corruption in Spain has affected and still affects important legal assets that are constitutionally protected; on the one hand, this type of corruption has generated an increase in illicit activities promoted or permitted in different ways by public administration institutions since 2007, which has brought the legal, political and economic system into disrepute. Moreover, the failure to protect land as part of the environment contributed to the degradation of natural spaces and coasts. Finally, speculation in the overexploitation of land had a significant impact on the increase in the price of housing, with the consequent impact on the right to housing recognised in the Spanish Constitution. This article analyses the different circumstances that explained how the administrative and penal protection systems failed.