Catalonia is (as of 2018) divided into 947 municipalities. Each municipality typically represents one significant urban settlement, of any size from village to city, with its surrounding land. This is not always the case, though. Many municipalities have merged as a result of rural depopulation or simply for greater efficiency. Some large urban areas, for example Barcelona, consist of more than one municipality, each of which previously held a separate settlement. The Catalan government encourages mergers of very small municipalities; its "Report on the revision of Catalonia's territorial organisation model" (the ""), published in 2000 but not yet implemented, recommends many such mergers. Larger municipalities may sometimes grant the status of ''

decentralised municipal entity Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

'' ( ca, EMD, es, EATIM) to one or more of its settlements, for more effective provision of services or to substitute for its previous status as a separate municipality. Each municipality is run by a

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

elected by the residents at periodic nationwide

local election In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

s. The council consists of a number of members depending on population, who elect the mayor ( es, alcalde, ca, batlle). The

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

( ca, ajuntament) is located in the main settlement, and deals with provision of local services and administrative matters such as registration of residents. The "main settlement" is not always the biggest settlement, as new urban developments such as tourist resorts can become very big very quickly without achieving any political recognition. Boundaries between municipalities have their origins in ancient landholdings and transfers, and may often appear quite arbitrary and illogical, with

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

s common. Catalonia's municipalities are (as of 1987) grouped into 42 '' comarques'' (by the Catalan government) and four provinces (by the Spanish government). Occasional revisions of the boundaries of comarcas have resulted in municipalities moving from one comarca to another; see the list at

Comarques of Catalonia This is a list of the 42 ''comarques'' (singular ''comarca'', , ) into which Catalonia is divided. A ''comarca'' is a group of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the US or a district or council in the UK. However, in the context ...

List of municipalities

The official names in Catalan are the only legal ones (except in the Val d'Aran). Older texts may use Spanish forms or spellings.

References and notes

External links

* {{Catalonia topics * Catalonia-related lists