Spanish water policy and the national hydrological plan: An advocacy coalition approach to policy change

The advocacy coalition framework (ACF) was developed as a means of studying the complexities of policymaking in multi-actor, multi-level systems of governance. This article applies the ACF to a case study of the evolution of Spanish water policy, characterized by a focus for several decades on 'harnessing' water resources through large infrastructure projects and a more recent shift in policy, recognizing economic costs and environmental concerns. The Spanish case provides support for several ACF hypotheses regarding policy continuity and change, advocacy coalitions, and policy learning, but also points up some difficulties that should be addressed by further research.