Municipal gas companies in France and Spain in the post-war period: the cases of Bordeaux and Bilbao

Abstract

With the exception of Italy, municipal gas companies were not exactly abundant in Latin Europe. It is true that in countries such as France, Spain, and Portugal, there was no shortage of debates on municipalization, but the achievements were significantly less than those in Northern Europe, for example. Fundamentally, institutional and economic conditions meant that municipal gas companies were rather scarce. This does not mean that we don't have some cases worth analyzing. Here we will refer to the Bilbao Factory and the Régie du gaz de Bordeaux in the years immediately following Civil War and World War II, that is, at a time when national companies played a decisive role in the economy of Western Europe. In a time of severe difficulties, most governments opted for the nationalization of companies in strategic sectors and the implementation of multi-year economic plans. In the cases at hand, both companies had a long tradition of public service, although, given the poor economic conditions of those years, they had no choice but to adapt to the new market conditions.