Local government in Spain refers to the government and administration of what the Constitution calls "local entities", which are primarily municipalities, but also groups of municipalities including

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, metropolitan areas,

comarcas A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

and

mancomunidad In present-day Spain a ''mancomunidad'' ( an, mancomunidat, ast, mancomunidá, ca, mancomunitat, gl, mancomunidade, eu, mankomunitatea; in English "commonwealth" or municipal association) is an association of municipalities voluntarily est ...

es and sub-municipal groups known as Minor local entities ( es, Entidad de Ámbito Territorial Inferior al Municipio). The administration of these entities is mostly provided by a council, each with a different name and set of rules ( es, régimen). These councils can be collectively thought of as a third sphere (or tier) of government, the first being the State (Spain) and the second ( the regional governments). For various reasons, local government is heterogeneous, not distributed in a balanced way across the nation, involves duplication of services and has even been labelled dysfunctional. Although Spain adheres to the

European Charter of Local Self-Government The European Charter of Local Self-Government was adopted under the auspices of the Congress of the Council of Europe and was opened for signature by the Council of Europe's member states on 15 October 1985. All Council of Europe member states a ...

, it declares itself not bound to the full extent by the requirement for direct elections of all local government authorities.

Governing bodies

Municipal council

The governing and administrative body for most of the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

is the ''Ayuntamiento'' The main organ of the Ayuntamiento is the plenary, the deliberative body formed by the elected councillors, and presided by the ''alcalde'' ( en, Mayor). Unlike most European countries the mayor is not directly elected. The mayor is invested(and can be removed) by the councillors.

Open council

The ''concejo abierto'' ("open council") is the system used for the government and administration of low-population municipalities and some ''minor local entities''. The government is exercised by a Mayor and the ''asamblea vecinal'' ("neighbourhood assembly"), formed by all the electors of the municipality. The Mayor is elected directly by the citizens.

Provincial council

Provinces are groupings of municipalities. The governing and administrative body of the mainland

is the ''diputación provincial'' ("provincial council"). However, when there is only one province in an autonomous community, the functions of the provincial council are replaced by the regional government, for example the autonomous community of the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

and the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munic ...

. A provincial council is made up of a plenary, the deliberative body, and an executive committee formed by the president and the deputies. The provincial councillors are ''indirectly'' elected to a 4-year mandate by the municipal councils as function of the results of the municipal elections.

Island council

In contrast to the rest of Spain, the two provinces of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...

and the province of the

do not have provincial councils. Instead, each of the seven major islands of the Canaries is administered by a ''cabildo'' ( en, island council) and the four major islands of the Balearic Islands is administered by a ''consejo insular'' ( en, island council). The functions normally undertaken by a provincial council are divided between the island councils and the regional governments of the respective autonomous communities.

Comarcal council

Comarcas A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

are groupings of municipalities, established by regional governments, principally in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to s ...

and

the Basque Country The Basque Country ( eu, Euskal Herria; es, País Vasco; french: Pays basque) is the name given to the home of the Basque people. Trask, R.L. ''The History of Basque'' Routledge: 1997 The Basque country is located in the western Pyrenees, st ...

but also one in

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of th ...

. The ''comarcal council'' is the local administration and government body in the comarcas.

Metropolitan council

The

Metropolitan Area of Barcelona The Barcelona urban area is an urban area in Catalonia (Spain) centered on the city of Barcelona and located less than 100 km south of the border with France. With a population of over 5 million, it is the most populous urban area on the Med ...

is governed by a Metropolitan Council made up of representatives of the 36 councils making up its area, including the mayors as ex officio members of the council. It is responsible primarily for public transport, urban planning, water supply and treatment across the metropolitan area.

Others

There are a variety of other administrative bodies which are highly dependent on the particular regional legislation including: * ''Junta'' ( en, board)used for some ''mancomunidades'' (not to be confused with the governing body of some autonomous communities) * ''Junta vecinal'' used for some ''minor local entities'' particularly in Cantabria * ''Alcalde pedáneo'' a single person mayor used for some ''minor local entities''. * '' Concejo'' used for some ''minor local entities'' in Álava in the Basque Country.

Number

The number of registered local entities in June 2022 is shown in the following table.

References

Bibliography

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