The allocation of limited authorizations in Spain: considerations from the analysis of three specific sectors

Abstract

This contribution is intended to provide an overview of the Spanish regime of allocation of one of the main types of limited public rights: limited authorizations. With this target, it is examined the current legal regime of three specific sectors of administrative law, namely the rules on the allocation of gambling licenses, of entitlements for the use of radio frequencies as well as of greenhouse gas emission permits. It will be shown that despite their different object and the fact that only the two last areas have been subjected to European harmonization, the three analyzed sectors are crossed by some horizontal or structural common elements regarding the allocation of limited authorizations. The identification and analysis of such structural elements are of interest in terms of general administrative law in so far as they are traceable to abstract elements of a general system of allocation of any limited authorization.