Ostatni konstytucyjny bastion demokracji bezpośredniej w Hiszpanii? Concejo abierto wobec centralizacji i kryzysu autonomii lokalnej
The last constitutional bastion of direct democracy in Spain? Concejo abierto facing centralization and the crisis of local autonomy

Summary/Abstract: The article analyzes the Spanish institution of concejo abierto – a constitutionally protected form of direct democracy at the local level, where an assembly of all voters replaces the municipal council. The study aims to verify the thesis that this institution constitutes a critical test of Spanish local constitutionalism, revealing tensions between declaratory constitutional guarantees and legislative practice. The research employs dogmatic-legal and historical-legal analysis methods. The study demonstrates that the doctrine of “institutional guarantee” proved insufficient against the strategy of “erosion through sedimentation” – gradual limitation of competences through sectoral laws. The 2013 LRSAL reform introduced a “constitutional mutation,” subordinating local autonomy to the principle of economic efficiency. The main conclusion calls for a fundamental paradigm shift in protection – from abstract guarantees to concrete, enforceable minimum standards of autonomy and treating self-governance as a constitutional value requiring active optimization.

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