Municipal Council of Macau, officially known as the Leal Senado (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for ''Loyal Senate''), was the local government structure in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

(similar to city councils) during Portuguese colonial rule. The title ''Leal Senado'' was bestowed on Macau's government in 1810 by Portugal's

prince regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

João João is the Portuguese equivalent of the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the sections below. Kings * ...

, who later became King John VI of Portugal. This was a reward for Macau's loyalty to Portugal during the

Philippine Dynasty The Philippine dynasty ( pt, dinastia filipina), also known as the House of Habsburg in Portugal, was the third royal house of Portugal. It was named after the three Habsburg Spanish kings, all named Philip (; , ), who ruled Portugal between 1 ...

, between 1580 and 1640. Following the handover in 1999, the Council was replaced by a Provisional Municipal Council and finally replaced by the Institute for Civic and Municipal Affairs of the Macau (Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais). Like its Municipal Council predecessors, the Institute meets at the

Leal Senado Building The Leal Senado Building (Portuguese for ''Loyal Senate'') was the seat of Portuguese Macau's government (Legislative Assembly of Macau and Municipal Council of Macau). It is located at one end of the Senado Square in São Lourenço, Macau, ...

Parish

The Council representation was based on parishes:

Functions

* urban affairs * roads * public transport * fire control - Corpo de Bombeiros de Macau * markets

Parish

Functions

See also