This article describes the main results of an ethnographic study on citizen participation carried out in the context of the development of the Urban Initiative (2007-2015): Cuenca-Barrio de San Antón. Managed by the City Council of Cuenca and financed by the European Regional Development Funds (FEDER) under the Ministry of Economy and Finance at the Government of Spain The results of the research show how in the context of the application of neoliberal policies, citizen participation becomes the trigger for new conflicts between institutions and citizens. In this sense, it is worth noting how, in practice, institutions in their capacity as experts and not willing to dis-empower themselves, invoke citizen participation to try to legitimize their actions. Showing participation strategies based on logics that either deny or promote a merely symbolic level, and that confront the strategies of citizen participation deployed by the subaltern actors to challenge and stress the dominant practices