Water as an economic asset: the history of water management and conflict in Spain

Objectives: this ongoing work is part of a more extensive doctoral thesis which aims to provide an estimate of water needs for thermoelectric production in Spain covering the entire electrical history from 1900 to the present. In this context, this paper seeks to highlight the main role of water within the Spanish history, observing how water management and institutions in Spain have changed over the long term to understand the causes of water conflicts, and finally, focusing on all those possible conflicts rarely discussed in the literature.