Are Internal Borders Gaining Momentum? A Territorial Reading of Spain’s Covid-19 Crisis Management

Abstract

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis in February/March2020,the use of the term “border” has become widespread in the debate concerning measures to contain the pandemic whenreferringto the limits ofSpain’sautonomous com-munities(ACs). Primarily, the media, but also most of Spain’spolitical classes,have standardized the use of this term, which until now had been restricted to the country’sinternational borders.Yet, despite this, there has been virtually no academic discussion of this rapid resignification of the Word “border” in Spain.Having said that, interestingly,prior to the pandemic, aline of research conducted from the perspective afforded by border studies had begun to draw attention to the growing territorial tensions between the Autonomous Communities.It is against thisbackdrop, therefore, that this chapter seeks to analyze how the Covid-19 crisisin Spain has been managed from a territorial perspective.