The weight of building materials in the social metabolism of Spain and conflicts on quarries

This paper reviews recent trends on resource use in the Spanish building industry based on the social metabolism approach (Fischer-Kowalski, 1998). The growth of the Spanish economy from 1980 to 2007 was based on an intensive use of natural resources, and the material intensity of output did not decline in that period in contrast to the period after 2008. This Knowledge Unit also provides evidence of one specific type of resource extraction conflict in Catalonia.