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The transportation sector is characterized by a high consumption of fossil fuels and a strong environmental impact. Promoting electric vehicles is an alternative to reduce and limit them move towards the sustainability of the automobile sector. In a short period of time, world car manufacturers have built, marketed and sold a million electric vehicles, and a million drivers got used to these new low carbon advanced technologies. Comparatively, this figure represents approximately the average annual sales of conventional vehicles in Spain. The main problem is the battery autonomy, since its maximum range does not exceed 250 km, a restriction that limits the trip. Spain belongs to the group of countries which have longest trip average around 80 km. Then the problem is how to understand electric mobility, for that the types and modes of charging, the types of electric vehicles, and the available charging systems all interact with one another in the charging systems for electric vehicles, which will be specifically analysed. Alternative charging methods are also presented, and the agents involved in the charging process in accordance with applicable regulations are identified. The objective of this article is to analyse the charging of electric vehicles in Spain and to assess the current situation to be able to propose potential improvements or implementation strategies. This paper determines that it is necessary to develop public policies for a structured implementation of charging stations in public places and in common-use areas within large shared spaces, such as parking areas and residential areas in order to improve electric mobility in Spain. This paper also illustrates the need to legislate standards for charging electric vehicles to maximize their implementation in Spain, with the goal of implementing electric vehicles on a larger scale and ultimately allowing society to benefit from the advantages of this technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depopulation is a major challenge for many rural inland areas, as is the case in a considerable number of rural municipalities in Galicia (north-western Spain). The pandemic had a considerable impact on internal migration in 2020, but it was far from being anywhere near high enough to reverse the ongoing trend of population decline, highlighting the need for further action. Thus, this paper has a twofold objective: firstly, to propose an index of rural sustainable development for the rural Galician municipalities, and secondly, to identify the factors related to it. In so doing, a composite index stemming from the Benefit of the Doubt methodology has been proposed in the first stage, an index built from four-dimension factors– economic, demographic, social, and environmental. The empirical evidence of this index has been compared with three additional ones (namely, common weights, super-efficiency, and geometric mean and logistic normalization models). In the second stage, the relationship between the composite index and a set of exogenous variables that affect rural development has been analyzed, the data confirming that the rates of female immigration and occupancy in the hospitality sector favors sustainable development, whereas the distance from the provincial capital hinders it. This paper paves the way for an assessment of the potentialities of each territory, and the evidence found allows actions to be supported that generate sustainable progress in rural Galician municipalities and that are useful for tackling this complex problem. • A new rural sustainable development index based on four dimensions is proposed. • Strengths and weaknesses for each Galician rural municipality are identified. • Environmental factors constitute a driver of rural development in Galicia. • Social aspects (i.e., health, education, services) stand out as main weaknesses. • Policies to boost social care and attract childbearing-age inhabitants are paramount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the latest developments in sustainability reporting in Spain, one of the leading countries worldwide in this field, and makes special emphasis on the recent governmental initiative entitled “Spanish strategy on companies’ corporate social responsibility practices 2014–2020” aimed at extending CSR practices not only to listed companies and state-owned enterprises but also to the rest of companies (including SMEs) and the Public Administrations. It is based on six principles, four strategic objectives, ten action lines and sixty proposed measures with the ultimate goal of supporting the development of responsible practices in the public and private sectors in order that they become a significant driver of the country's competitiveness and its transformation to a more productive, sustainable and inclusive economy. The most relevant initiatives set out in each of the main CSR pillars are highlighted and compared with similar actions adopted in other European countries. The paper concludes with a reflection on the main challenges ahead that need to be overcome through the joint efforts of all the actors involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to link the literatures on economic complexity, income equality and environmental quality within the context of the Environmental Kuznets Trilemma. Within this framework, it is possible to measure the presence of an impossible trinity of irreconcilable objectives: economic growth, equal distribution of income and environmental sustainability. Our paper revisits this trilemma by focusing on economic complexity (EC) indexes instead of direct measures of economic growth, and applies this analysis to the sub-national level. We link these three cutting-edge topics by means of novel datasets computed for the Spanish economy at the province level (NUTS-3) for a long period (2002–16). Our paper also sheds new light on the spatial patterns of the trilemma's three dimensions and their implications for the future of Spain's more peripheral regions. ⁃ This paper links the literatures on economic complexity, income equality and environmental quality within the context of the Environmental Kuznets Trilemma. ⁃ Our paper focuses on economic complexity indexes instead of direct measures of economic growth, and applies this analysis to the sub-national level, using novel datasets for the Spanish provinces (NUTS-3) for a long period (2002–16). ⁃ Our paper shows a clear tension between economic growth and complexity versus income equality and environmental quality. The econometric analysis verifies the classic trilemma (equality-sustainability-growth), but also of our new version: equality-sustainability-complexity. ⁃ The paper also tests the presence of a quadrilemma, discussing the role to which a province's level of complexity tends to play in the tensions between growth, inequality, and sustainability. The results open new avenues for the smart specialization of regions within countries, something specially relevant in the COVID-19 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction and demolition waste is a major problem in modern society, as it accounts for 25–30% of all the solid waste generated yearly. Its proper handling is one of the mainstays of European waste management policy, which aims to sever the direct relationship between economic growth and the increase in waste generation, lowering associated environmental impacts and furthering recycling and sustainability. To date, no paper has been published in the international literature on the C&DW management model in place in an EU Member State. To fill that gap, the present article analyses Spain's model, with a view to identifying and assessing the industry's strengths and weaknesses. Such analyses are of key importance, given the decisive impact of the management model on the technical and economic viability of using the end product (recycled aggregate) in new applications in construction (structural applications) and hence capitalising on the economic and social benefits to be reaped. The present model is found to be characterised by private plants with an intra-provincial waste reception and product commercialisation radius of no more than 30 km. Government's role in the model is mainly confined to establishing a legislative framework that regulates and fosters construction and demolition waste recycling, with scant financial participation or adoption of effective incentives for using recycled aggregate. The incoming product is primarily mixed construction and demolition waste with a high clay-based material content. In Spain, then, private enterprise is the sector that has committed most firmly to C&DW recycling, a business whose continuity is presently threatened by the slump in the construction industry and the ready availability of natural aggregate in Spain, compared to which the recycled product is not competitive. The current management model is consequently in need of revision, with special emphasis on government's role in furthering the use of processed construction and demolition waste as a raw material for the manufacture of new construction products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]