The municipality ( es, municipio, , ca, municipi, gl, concello, eu, udalerria, ast, conceyu)
[In other ]languages of Spain
The languages of Spain ( es, lenguas de España), or Spanish languages ( es, lenguas españolas, link=no), are the languages spoken in Spain.
Most languages spoken in Spain belong to the Romance languages, Romance language family, of which Sp ...
:
* Catalan/Valencian (), sing. ''municipi''.
* Galician () or (), sing. ''municipio''/''bisbarra''.
*Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
(), sing. ''udalerria''.
* Asturian (), sing. ''conceyu''. is the basic local administrative division in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
together with the
province
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 ...
.
Organisation
Each
municipality
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 go ...
forms part of a
province
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 ...
which in turn forms part or the whole of an
autonomous community
eu, autonomia erkidegoa
ca, comunitat autònoma
gl, comunidade autónoma
oc, comunautat autonòma
an, comunidat autonoma
ast, comunidá autónoma
, alt_name =
, map =
, category = Autonomous administra ...
(17 in total plus
Ceuta
Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa.
Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...
and
Melilla): some autonomous communities also group municipalities into entities known as ''
comarca
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, ...
s'' (districts) or ''
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 estab ...
es'' (commonwealths). There are a total of 8,131 municipalities in Spain, including the autonomous cities of
Ceuta
Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa.
Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...
and
Melilla. In the
Principality of Asturias
Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensiv ...
, municipalities are officially named ''concejos'' (councils).
The average population of a municipality is about 5,300, but this figure masks a huge range: the most populous Spanish municipality is the city of
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, with a population of 3,305,408
(2022), while several rural municipalities have fewer than ten inhabitants (
Illán de Vacas
Illán de Vacas is a town in the province of Toledo, in Castile–La Mancha, Spain. The surface area of the municipality is 9 km², it has a total population of 1 inhabitant,http://www.ine.es/pob_xls/pobmun13.xls making it the least popula ...
, had a population of three in 2022). 84% (6817) of municipalities have less than 5,000 inhabitants. Castile and León alone accounts for 28% of municipalities but has less than 6% of the population of Spain. A European report said that one of the most important problems facing local governments in Spain is the very high number of little towns with a low number of inhabitants.
The area of the municipal territory (Spanish: ''término municipal'') usually ranges 2–40 km
2, but some municipalities span across a much larger area, up to the 1,750.33 km
2 of
Cáceres', the largest municipality in the country.
The organisation of the municipalities is governed by a 2 April 1985 law, completed by the 18 April 1986 royal decree. The Statutes of Autonomy of the various autonomous communities also contain provisions concerning the relations between the municipalities and the autonomous governments. In general, municipalities enjoy a large degree of autonomy in their local affairs: many of the functions of the ''comarcas'' and provinces are municipal powers pooled together.
The governing body in most municipalities is called ''
ayuntamiento
''Ayuntamiento'' ()In other languages of Spain:
* ca, ajuntament ().
* gl, concello ().
* eu, udaletxea (). is the general term for the town council, or ''cabildo'', of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin Amer ...
'' (
municipal council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
or
corporation
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...
), a term often also used to refer to the
municipal headquarters (city/town hall). The ''ayuntamiento'' is composed of the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
(Spanish: ''alcalde''), the deputy mayors (Spanish: ''tenientes de alcalde'') and the deliberative assembly (''pleno'') of councillors (''concejales''). Another form of local government used in small municipalities is the ''
concejo abierto The concejo abierto (literally: "open council") is a system of government and administration of some very small Spanish municipalities and sub-municipal territorial units. An example of direct democracy, the system allows for the existence of a M ...
'' (open council), in which the deliberative assembly is formed by all the electors in the municipality.
History
Municipalities were first created by decree on 23 May 1812 as part of the liberal reforms associated with the new
Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy ( es, link=no, Constitución Política de la Monarquía Española), also known as the Constitution of Cádiz ( es, link=no, Constitución de Cádiz) and as ''La Pepa'', was the first Constitut ...
and based on similar actions in revolutionary France. The idea was to rationalise and homogenise territorial organisation, do away with the prior feudal system and provide equality before the law of all citizens.
Between 1812 and 1931 the legislation regarding municipal organisation was changed more than 20 times, and there were 20 addition and unsuccessful proposals for change.
Terminology
See also
*
List of municipalities of Spain
This is a list of lists of the municipalities of Spain. The municipalities list links are listed below, by autonomous community and province.
According to the provisional reports released on 1 January 2018,[Local government in Spain
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, metropolitan areas, comarcas and manco ...]
*
Political divisions of Spain
The political division of the Kingdom of Spain is defined in Part VIII of the Spanish constitution of 1978, which establishes three levels of territorial organization: municipalities, provinces and autonomous communities, the first group constituti ...
*
Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces
The Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) is a Spanish association of local entities that groups town councils, provincial councils, insular councils and insular cabildos. Approximately 7,331 entities are represented.
The fo ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Municipalities Of Spain
Spain 3
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
Lists of subdivisions of Spain
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...