The Law on Rationalisation and Sustainability of Local Government of 27 December 2 013 was the last legislative attempt to have a profound impact on the organisation of the local plant in Spain. A law that was born without consensus and has failed in its objectives. From a policy point of view, this article seeks to analyse the causes of this failure. According to some authors such as Alba and Navarro, “the most relevant literature of local government in Spain comes from academics of administrative law that is highly oriented to the legal framework, the legal position of the local government unit and issues related to legal proceedings”. The law stems from a need imposed by the European Union to control the deficit of the local administration, is born without consensus and fails in the attempt to reduce the local plant. The latter result is of utmost interest because it can be seen within a comparative framework between models in Europe. Within the European framework there are local plant reduction initiatives which can be summarised in two models: throw-down, which has a characteristic feature of a rule emanating from central legislation and implemented at local level (Denmark but also Greece) and abajo-above, which is based on the voluntary nature of the reduction of local authorities (Spain). Such a recent law has encountered vetoes and resistance on the part of the actors involved, which have made its application impossible as a result of clashes between the centre and the periphery of the Spanish institutional organisation or in the confrontation between political parties and the veto power that have such significant players as the Autonomous Communities and the municipalities concerned by the legislation.