Geography and territorial analysis in Spain: issues to reflect on

The fundamental aim of the present contribution is to analyze the magnitude of the transformations which have been succeeding during the last thirty years and their importance for the geographical analysis. Indeed, since 1980 the spatial changes keep on producing in Spain. Among these, the urbanization of the territory, the indiscriminate construction of new buildings and the dynamics of metropolization excel. All this should be considered in a context of uninterrupted economical growth and population enrichment. At the end of the 1970s, Spain experiences the political transition towards democracy. At first, this transition culminates in the conformation of the State of the Autonomous Communities. It implies a shift from a strongly centralized administration deriving from Madrid to an administration which is similar to the one of the federal European models. The Autonomous Communities have taken over an elevate level of administrative competences and have at their disposal considerable budgetary resources, which have weaken the financial possibilities of the local administration. In this scenario of increasing moves, until the beginning of 1990s, the Geographical Community benefited from an initial phase of expansion, later on it benefited from a second period of stabilization. Geography keeps on being located mainly in the Universities. In our country, it is unquestionably led by a democratic association of academics, which is called Association of Spanish Geographers (Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles, AGE). The AGE has nourished the debates about the professionalization of the discipline and about the creation of a College of Geographers, which is the second important reference of our Community. During this stage, the space and the territory are no longer less important variables for the explication of the social phenomena; indeed, they become very relevant factors for the understanding of the actual globalized world. This reinforcement of the spatial/territorial dimension inaugurates a new scenario in which Geography can affirm itself as the central discipline for contemporary debates or it can be substituted by other Sciences in its basic objects of study. The future of the Geographical Community is uncertain, as at the beginning of the XXI century the discipline shows, at the same time, encouraging and negative symptoms of evolution.