It is difficult to define the legal concept of public service. There are two ways to understand it. The first one is objective and tries to determine which activities and services should be guaranteed to all citizens with the aim of social cohesion. The second one is subjective and is based on the idea that public services are activities excluded from the market. This second conception emphasizes the problems arising from the relationship between the public and private sectors rather than the right of the citizenship to receive specific services. Within this general conceptual framework, this work shows the current debate which is not centered on which kinds of public services are to be provided but rather on how they have to be provided. The debate has a strong ideological content and defends the return to public management at the expense of private management, which is considered ineff...

It is difficult to define the legal concept of public service. There are two ways to understand it. The first one is objective and tries to determine which activities and services should be guaranteed to all citizens with the aim of social cohesion. The second one is subjective and is based on the idea that public services are activities excluded from the market. This second conception emphasizes the problems arising from the relationship between the public and private sectors rather than the right of the citizenship to receive specific services. Within this general conceptual framework, this work shows the current debate which is not centered on which kinds of public services are to be provided but rather on how they have to be provided. The debate has a strong ideological content and defends the return to public management at the expense of private management, which is considered ...

El presente trabajo analiza los efectos que ha tenido la pandemia COVID19 sobre los servicios de suministro de agua y su saneamiento en España. El trabajo parte de la concepción del acceso al agua potable y su saneamiento como un derecho humano, derecho que en España está reconocido al ser el agua un bien de dominio público y su prestación ser un servicio público de prestación obligatoria. La incidencia de la COVID19 en este servicio público se analiza desde diversas perspectivas. En primer lugar se destaca la calificación de este servicio como un servicio esencial y las consecuencias que se derivan de esta calificación. En segundo lugar se presta especial atención a la incidencia de la COVID19 en el régimen económico de los contratos de concesión de servicios, y los mecanismos extraordinarios y ordinarios establecidos para lograr su reequilibrio económico. En tercer luga...

It is difficult to define the legal concept of public service. There are two ways to understand it. The first one is objective and tries to determine which activities and services should be guaranteed to all citizens with the aim of social cohesion. The second one is subjective and is based on the idea that public services are activities excluded from the market. This second conception emphasizes the problems arising from the relationship between the public and private sectors rather than the right of the citizenship to receive specific services. Within this general conceptual framework, this work shows the current debate which is not centered on which kinds of public services are to be provided but rather on how they have to be provided. The debate has a strong ideological content and defends the return to public management at the expense of private management, which is considered ...