VOLUNTEERING INFRASTRUCTURE

1. VOLUNTEERING INFRASTRUCTURECONCEPT DEFINITIONVolunteering in Spain has come a long way since the return to democracymore than three decades ago and finds itself now in a moment of redefiningits identity and place in the social, economic and political landscape andis thereby characterised by a similar complexity with that of the currentSpanish society. When looking at volunteering infrastructure in Spain onemust take into account the complexity of the administration in the countrywhich influences the organisation of the civil society and of the voluntarysector in particular.There are four levels of administration in Spain: the state/nationallevel managing matters of general interest; the regional (autonomouscommunity) governments, in charge of matters of interest in the 17autonomous communities plus 2 autonomous cities (Ceuta and Melillain Northern Africa); the province level (diputaciones) focuses on mattersthat are specific to the 50 provinces, and the local level, the one which isclosest and most directly in touch with citizens, has competencies withregards to local community participation and citizenship. This politicaland administrative structure has as consequence the organisation of thevolunteering sector at three or four level. An exhaustive analysis of thevolunteering infrastructure in Spain would therefore require reference to bemade to all these level. This chapter will only touch upon the national level,with some examples and references made concerning the regional level.Given the above-mentioned complexity of the administrative apparatus,and the enormous diversity between the regions of Spain, in terms of size,population, economic development, culture, landscape etc., it is nearlyimpossible to have a uniform analysis of the volunteering infrastructure inSpain. Each region, province and locality has its own mechanisms designedto support, promote, channel, enhance and finance volunteering within itsarea of responsibility.Volunteering infrastructure in Spain can however be considered under twoapproaches: on the one hand, the public infrastructure, and on the otherhand the infrastructure of the volunteer sector itself, which is closely linkedto the third sector, citizens’ participation and is, in a way, a reflection ofSpain’s administrative structure.377 Volunteering infrastructure in Europe 27 Spain