The municipality ( es, municipio, , ca, municipi, gl, concello, eu, udalerria, ast, conceyu)In other languages of Spain: * 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

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 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 '' mancomunidades'' (commonwealths). There are a total of 8,131 municipalities in Spain, including the autonomous cities of Ceuta 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 Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, with a population of 3,305,408 (2022), while several rural municipalities have fewer than ten inhabitants ( Illán de Vacas, 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 km², but some municipalities span across a much larger area, up to the 1,750.33 km² 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 or corporation), a term often also used to refer to the municipal headquarters (city/town hall). The ''ayuntamiento'' is composed of the mayor (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'' (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.

Organisation

History

Terminology

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography