**Marinaleda** is a small town in Seville,
[Spain](Kingdom_of_Spain "wikilink") which has been described by its
mayor and journalists as a '[communist
utopia](List_of_Libertarian_Socialist_Societies "wikilink")'.

## Decision-Making

The town follows the standard [liberal](Liberalism "wikilink") model of
a [representative democracy](Representative_Democracy "wikilink"), but
despite the eccentric communist mayor. It is more likely that the towns
unique policies are due to the constant hunger strikes, occupations of
government buildings and hostility towards traditional spanish politics
means that it is more the autonomous power of the working class and the
states desire to not deal with an insurrection that is the reason for
the towns ability to experiment.

## Crime

Marinaleda has been called a "utopia for peace", which has no municipal
police (saving $350,000 a year).\[1\]

## Economics

The town has maintained full employment (in a country of high
unemployment) by creating [worker
cooperatives](Worker_Cooperatives "wikilink") in the industries of
farming (producing wheat, artichokes, lettuce, tomato, peppers, broccoli
and beans) as well as [self-managed
factories](Workers'_Self-Management "wikilink") which produce canned
goods.\[2\]

Housing costs are extremely low in Marinaleda, as you can own a house
for 15 euros a month. Land is owned [commonly](Commons "wikilink") and
neighbours and builders help out new homeowners in the spirit of [mutual
aid](Mutual_Aid "wikilink"). Each house has three bedrooms, one bathroom
and a large garden.\[3\]

Since the transition towards a cooperative economy, the town has built a
[school](Education "wikilink"), a TV station, a radio station, parks,
childcare centers, aged care homes, doctors offices and a swimming
pool.\[4\]

## Culture

Additionally, political murals and revolutionary slogans adorn the
town's whitewashed walls and streets are named after Latin American
leftists (like Che Guevara). Every few weeks, the town hall declares a
Red Sunday over a bullhorn and volunteers clean the streets or do odd
jobs\[5\]

## References

<references />

1.  [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marinaleda#Local_government>
2.  [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") (Spanish) -
    <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marinaleda>
3.
4.
5.