Abstract
The article investigates the trend toward recentralization that has occurred, in particular after the 2007 economic crisis, both in Italy and in Spain with regard to environmental protection. The analysis focuses on the division and implementation of environmental competences between the State and the sub-national entities (i.e. Regions and Autonomous Communities) as evolved over the years in the two compound systems by shedding light on the tensions between centre and periphery, old and new instances of asymmetry and the role played by Constitutional Courts.