High-Speed Rail Versus Air Transportation: Case Study of Madrid–Barcelona, Spain.

Travel time savings, better quality of the supplied services, greater comfort for the users, and improved accessibility are the main factors of success of High Speed Rail(HSR)links. This paper presents the results from a revealed and stated preference survey conducted to both HSR and air transport users in the Madrid Barcelona corridor. The data gathered from the stated preference survey was used to calibrate a modal choice model aiming at explaining competition between HSR and air transportation in the corridor. From the model, the authors obtain that prices and service frequency are the most important variables to compete with the other mode. In addition, they found that check-in and security controls at the airport are a crucial variable for the users in their modal choice. Other policies, such as the improvement of parking facilities at the train stations, play a secondary role.

Does high speed rail compete fairly with other transportation modes? Madrid-Barcelona case study

Transportation modes produce many external costs such as congestion, accidents, and environmental impacts (pollution, noise and so on). From the microeconomic theory it is well known that in order to maximize social welfare, transportation modes should internalize the marginal costs they produce. Allocative efficiency is achieved when all transportation modes are priced at their social marginal cost. The objective of this research is to evaluate to what extent different passenger transport modes internalize their social marginal costs. This analysis is important since it affects the competitiveness of the different transport modes for a given OD pair. The case study analyzed is the corridor Madrid-Barcelona in Spain and the different transport modes have been considered (cars, buses, high-speed train and air). The research calculates the marginal social cost per user for each transportation mode, and it compares it with the average fare—allowing for the effect of discriminatory taxes—currently paid by the users. The external costs are calculated according to the guidelines established by the European Union. The gap between the marginal social cost and the price paid by users will provide the extra cost per passenger that each transport mode should have to pay for internalizing the external cost it produces. The research shows that external costs already produced by road and air transport modes are much higher than those produced by rail. However, the results show that road transport already internalizes every external costs it produces because users pay high fuel taxes. In other words, although rail transportation produces lower external costs, road transportation pays more than it should on the basis of the social marginal costs. The results of this work might be of help for Europ ean policy actions to be undertaken in the future.

Housing plans and urban rehabilitation in Spain, 1992-2012

This paper explores the urban rehabilitation projects promoted by the Spanish Government between 1992 and 2012 through housing plans. The analysis is based on the comparison of programmes and estimations gathered in these plans with actual housing production within this period in order to find the connection between sectoral housing planning and real estate cycles in these last twenty years. During the period under review, six state housing plans, that were mainly focused on the promotion of newly-constructed state-subsidised housing, were developed, including the Areas of Integrated Rehabilitation programmes (ARI programmes). In spite of the relevance and growing complexity of these programmes, these played a subsidiary role in the government housing policy and were insignificant regarding the whole real estate production in this period.

Towards a fuel poverty definition for Spain

During the last years, an increasing interest has been developed so as to address the problem of fuel poverty which is already affecting a huge number of European citizens. In 2013, the European Parliament has claimed to the Commission and State Members through several resolutions, the legislative development of policies in order to tackle energy vulnerability of households. In 2000 the UK Government, through the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act, established that a person could be regarded as fuel poor if he is a member of a household that cannot get warmth at a reasonable cost. Nevertheless, in order to establish the incidence of fuel poverty among Spanish households, it must be understood which should be the adequate thresholds for indoor temperatures. The research here presented proposes new indoor temperature thresholds for fuel poor households based on adaptive comfort models.

Enhanced radon emission in natural CO2 flows in Campo de Calatrava region (central Spain)

Activity of radon gas in natural soils is commonly low (in the order of few thousands of Bq·m-3) due to the fast decay (half-life= 3.8 days in the case of 222Rn) that prevents accumulation in soil pores. Exceptionally, high Rn soil activity (up to 430 KBq·m-3) is found around point sources of deep CO2 fluxes. These fluxes allow the transport of trace gases (including Rn) to long distances in the geosphere leading to a potential hazard as Rn accumulation in buildings. CO2 degassing is common in active or ancient volcanic fields and occurs as free gas fluxes or dissolved in groundwater. In this work, the occurrence of Rnbearing, CO2 fluxes from the Campo de Calatrava region in Central Spain has been studied in order to determine their (1) magnitude, (2) migration paths and (3) potential impact on the environment, and (4) methodologies to best detection and measurement.

Country reports. Spain

Many diversified activities can be reported from the Spanish INHIGEO group. Professor Emerita, Carmina Virgili-Rodón, was awarded the Medal of Honour of the Complutense University of Madrid. Due to ill-health she was unable to attend the award ceremony and received the medal at her home in Barcelona.

Cross Ventilation CFD Modeling: Characterization and Study of Different Façade Openings Configurations at the Refurbishment of a Residential Building in Málaga (Spain)

The opening of new windows on the façade is proposed as a refurbishment strategy in an existing building in Málaga to facilitate cross ventilation of dwellings. The building is a residential block of 140 public housing units for rent for people with low income in Málaga (Spain), property of the City Council. By modeling with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), eleven configurations of openings are studied in two different areas of the main housing type of the building. The quantity of introduced/extracted air into/from the room and the generated airflow patterns are obtained. The modeling allows comparing the different openings configurations to determine the most appropriate ventilation option for every room.

La organización de los juegos olímpicos como elemento de configuración de regímenes urbanos: Barcelona 1992 como estudio de caso

The games were an opportunity for Spain to show to the world as a modern, wealthy and democratic country of Western Europe, that successfully accomplished 15 years of political transition and dealt with identity issues. But the games also were a window of opportunity for the complete “reinvention” of Barcelona at all levels (political, economical, social and urbanistic) and laid the foundations for the development of the city in the next decades. This research argues that this process of “reinvention of the city” can be explained for three factors: 1) A policy coalition involving key economic and social actors under the leadership of Barcelona‟s Major, which led to a new urban regime. 2) An intergovernmental game that privileged the cooperation between the federal and urban government, as well as the international sports institutions 3) An understanding of the Olympic infrastructures not only as a guarantee for the success of the event, but as the starting point for a new model of urban and identity development regarding to the XXI siècle. The main objective of the research is to analyze the possible application of urban regime approach to different local government systems of the US by analyzing a case study, Barcelona...

A conservação da biodiversidade nos discursos expositivos do Zoo de Barcelona

A Educação para a Conservação é um campo de pesquisa que se dedica ao estudo das reflexões éticas e das atitudes humanas direcionadas para com o respeito que se deve ter com o ambiente, principalmente pelo estabelecimento de ações conservacionistas pautadas em interações educativas. Os Zoos, de modo geral, estão inseridos nessa perspectiva, uma vez que se apresentam como instituições de cunho educativo voltadas para a conservação da biodiversidade. No entanto, o discurso expositivo apresentado por esses aparatos culturais no Brasil, muitas vezes, não contempla tais elementos em suas exposições. Por este motivo, buscou-se a análise de exposições zoológicas também no exterior, que contemplassem discursos sobre a conservação da biodiversidade em suas exposições, tendo sido escolhida a exposição do Zoo de Barcelona, Espanha, para a realização desta investigação. A pesquisa teve por objetivos compreender como a conservação da biodiversidade é abordada na exposição deste zoológico catalão, com base na formulação de saberes de referência constituídos a partir de diferentes áreas: os Movimentos Ambientalistas, a Filosofia da Conservação e as Éticas Ambientais. Igualmente, buscou-se compreender como o discurso expositivo sobre conservação encontra-se apresentado nos aparatos expográficos distribuídos ao longo da exposição, bem como em livros e documentos. Compreendendo a investigação como um Estudo de Caso, foram acessados documentos institucionais de acesso público encontrados no site da instituição e textos presentes nos painéis expositivos. As análises foram realizadas com base no referencial teórico da Transposição Didática/Museográfica, que permite o estudo da exposição por ao menos três lógicas: a lógica do discurso; a lógica do espaço; e a lógica do gesto. Além disso, o mesmo referencial prevê o estabelecimento de um saber de referência ou saber sábio pautado no conhecimento epistemológico sobre a conservação da biodiversidade e, nesta pesquisa, no discurso de pesquisadores da área, que foram entrevistados sobre este assunto. Este saber de referência ou saber sábio possibilitou a criação de um conjunto de categorias de análise que pautou a análise do discurso expositivo apresentado pelo Zoo de Barcelona. As categorias criadas foram classificadas em duas dimensões: a dos Valores e a das Ações. Duas categorias, a Antropocêntrica e a Não antropocêntrica constituíram a Dimensão dos Valores e quatro categorias, a Desenvolvimentista, a Sustentabilista, a Sócio-humanística e a Técnico-científica constituíram a Dimensão das Ações. Os resultados apontaram que o discurso expositivo é composto predominantemente por informações Técnico-científicas e Sustentabilistas, ambas as categorias contextualizadas por uma visão não antropocêntrica de valorização da natureza. A forma como o discurso expositivo encontra-se apresentado na parte textual da exposição corrobora a linha conceitual de assuntos abordados nos grandes eventos globais promovidos pela ONU ao longo dos últimos 40 anos, sobre a conservação do meio ambiente. Categorias como a Sócio-humanística, a Antropocêntrica e a Dimensão dos Valores foram pouco abordadas. A categoria Desenvolvimentista não foi encontrada na exposição. Pelas evidências levantadas durante a análise dos dados pode-se concluir que o Zoo de Barcelona apresenta um discurso expositivo conservacionista e que há elementos suficientes na exposição para se apontar o desenvolvimento de uma Educação para a Conservação.

Identification of technological districts: the case of Spain

Paper submitted to the 51st European Congress of the Regional Science Association International, 37th Spanish Regional Science Association Conference, Barcelona, August 30-September 3, 2011.

Social and immigration factors in intimate partner violence among Ecuadorians, Moroccans and Romanians living in Spain

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women occurs in all countries, all cultures and at every level of society; however, some populations may be at greater risk than others. The aim of this study was to explore IPV prevalence among Ecuadorian, Moroccan and Romanian immigrant women living in Spain and its possible association with their personal, family, social support and immigration status characteristics. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 1607 adult immigrant women residing in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia (2011). Prevalence rates and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) were calculated, with current IPV being the outcome. Different women’s personal (demographic), family, social support and immigration status characteristics were considered as explicative and control variables. All analyses were separated by women’s country of origin. Results: Current IPV prevalence was 15.57% in Ecuadorians, 10.91% in Moroccans and 8.58% in Romanians. Some common IPV factors were found, such as being separated and/or divorced. In Romanians, IPV was also associated with lack of social support [AOR 5.96 (1.39–25.62)] and low religious involvement [AOR 2.17 (1.06–4.43)]. The likelihood of current IPV was lower among women without children or other dependants in this subgroup [AOR 0.29 (0.093–0.92)]. Conclusion: The IPV prevalence rates obtained for Moroccan, Romanian and Ecuadorian women residing in Spain were similar. Whereas the likelihood of IPV appeared to be relatively evenly distributed among Moroccan and Ecuadorian women, it was higher among Romanian women in socially vulnerable situations related to family responsibilities and the lack of support networks. The importance of intervention in the process of separation and divorce was common to all women.

Economic crisis, immigrant women and changing availability of intimate partner violence services: a qualitative study of professionals' perceptions in Spain

Introduction: Since 2008, Spain has been in the throes of an economic crisis. This recession particularly affects the living conditions of vulnerable populations, and has also led to a reversal in social policies and a reduction in resources. In this context, the aim of this study was to explore intimate partner violence (IPV) service providers’ perceptions of the impact of the current economic crisis on these resources in Spain and on their capacity to respond to immigrant women’s needs experiencing IPV. Methods: A qualitative study was performed based on 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews to social workers, psychologists, intercultural mediators, judges, lawyers, police officers and health professionals from different services dealing with IPV (both, public and NGO’s) and cities in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and Alicante) in 2011. Transcripts were imported into qualitative analysis software (Atlas.ti), and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: We identified four categories related to the perceived impact of the current economic crisis: a) “Immigrant women have it harder now”, b) “IPV and immigration resources are the first in line for cuts”, c) “ Fewer staff means a less effective service” and d) “Equality and IPV policies are no longer a government priority”. A cross-cutting theme emerged from these categories: immigrant women are triply affected; by IPV, by the crisis, and by structural violence. Conclusion: The professionals interviewed felt that present resources in Spain are insufficient to meet the needs of immigrant women, and that the situation might worsen in the future.

Barriers and facilitators to effective coverage of Intimate Partner Violence services for immigrant women in Spain

Objective: To explore service providers’ perceptions in order to identify barriers and facilitators to effective coverage of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) services for immigrant women in Spain, according to the different categories proposed in Tanahashi's model of effective coverage. Methods: A qualitative study based on 29 in-depth personal interviews and four group interviews with a total of 43 professionals working in public services (social and health-care services, women's refuges, the police force, the judiciary) and NGOs in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and Alicante (Spain) in 2011. Findings: Current IPV services in Spain partially fail in their coverage of abused immigrant women due to barriers of (i) availability, such as the inexistence of culturally appropriate services; (ii) accessibility, as having a residence permit is a prerequisite for women's access to different services and rights; (iii) acceptability, such as women's lack of confidence in the effectiveness of services; and (iv) effectiveness, for example, lack of specific training among professionals on the issues of IPV and immigration. However, interviewees also identified facilitators, such as the enabling environment promoted by the Spanish Law on Gender-Based Violence (1/2004), and the impetus it has provided for the development of other specific legislative tools to address IPV in immigrant populations in Spain (availability, accessibility and effectiveness). Conclusion: Whilst not dismissing cultural barriers, aspects related to service structure are identified by providers as the main barriers and facilitators to immigrant women use of IPV services. Despite noteworthy achievements, improvements are still required in terms of mainstreaming assistance tailored to immigrant women's needs in IPV policies and services.

Efectos del cambio climático y usos del suelo sobre los recursos hídricos de la cuenca del río Tordera (Barcelona, España)

Se presentan los efectos del cambio global en la cuenca del río Tordera (España) para el periodo 2000-2050, escenarios climáticos A2 (medio-alto) definidos por el Panel Intergubernamental del Cambio Climático (IPCC, 200) y escenarios socioeconómicos (cambios previstos en la cuenca) denominados estable y tendencial. Los efectos sobre los recursos hídricos se han analizado de forma conjunta superficial-subterránea mediante una metodológica de tipo acoplado. Para establecer los impactos futuros sobre los recursos hídricos se ha seleccionado el Modelo de Circulación Global ECHAM5 (Max Planck Institute). Los resultados obtenidos indican una disminución de la precipitación del 11.3% y un aumento de la temperatura de 1ºC, respecto a los valores históricos de la zona. De acuerdo a la proyección futura (2050) sobre cambios en los recursos hídricos, la escorrentía superficial obtenida mediante simulación con el código HEC-HMS 3.4 experimenta una reducción del 31.8% respecto al valor histórico y la recarga natural, estimada mediante VISUAL-Balan, se reduce en un 11.7%. El balance en el acuífero deltaico simulado mediante MODFLOW 2009.1 Pro muestra igualmente una disminución de los parámetros del balance. Los cambios del uso del suelo previstos de acuerdo a la legislación vigente (escenarios socioeconómicos) no conducen a la generación de un impacto apreciable en los recursos hídricos; según los escenarios definidos la variación de precipitación y temperatura son los parámetros fundamentales del cambio previsto.

MBA International Residency: The Derbi Project - Spain. ACES Working Papers (course development), 2012

The objective of this course is to complement and give closure to the work developed during MBAD204. There are two main components to this course. The first one is to provide the students with a firsthand experience of what doing business in Spain is like. This is accomplished by visiting a number of companies and government institutions in Barcelona and interacting with managers from a variety of industries. The other major component of this trip consists in learning how to present a business proposal or market analysis before a real client.