Resumo
In this presentation, we shall briefly describe the Spanish experience in relation to preventive archaeology. We shall begin by referring to the adoption and implementation of the founding document, the Valletta Convention (1992), and to the State and regional legislation in Spain, bearing in mind that each region has its own regulatory system on this issue.We shall examine the institutional framework of the management of archaeological heritage, as well as the context of the development of preventive archaeology. Furthermore, we shall explore the socio-economic structure of preventive archaeology in the professional sectors which have shaped it and carried it out over the past thirty years.We shall also outline how preventive archaeology is organised in Spain, in spite of its regional differences, and how the assessment and monitoring of the impacts caused by projects, plans and programmes which modify the territory are managed.We shall end with a critical analysis of the application of preventive archaeology. We shall focus on its benefits and advantages with regard to the previously-existing model and stress its problems and insufficiencies, as well as suggest possible ways of making progress in this form of archaeology.