Araba/Álava is a

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

in the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

of the Basque Country, Spain, that is divided into 51

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

. Spanish census, the province is the 37th largest by population with inhabitants but is the 48th largest by land area spanning . Municipalities enjoy a large degree of autonomy in their local administration. Amongst other tasks, they are in charge of urban planning, water supply, lighting, road network, local police and firefighting. Municipalities are the basic local political division in Spain, and can only belong to one province. The organisation of the municipalities is outlined in a local government law (''Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local'') passed on 2 April 1985, completed by an 18 April 1986 royal decree. The

Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979 The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979 (; ), widely known as the Statute of Gernika (; {{langx, es, Estatuto de Guernica), is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country' ( ...

also contains provisions concerning the relations between the municipalities and the autonomous government of the Basque Country. All citizens of Spain are required to register in the municipality in which they reside. Each municipality is a corporation with independent

legal person In law, a legal person is any person or legal entity that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, lawsuit, sue and be sued, ownership, own property, and so on. The reason for the term "''le ...

hood: its governing body is called the ''ayuntamiento'' (

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, borough cou ...

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

), a term often also used to refer to the municipal offices (city and town halls). The ''ayuntamiento'' is composed of the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

(Spanish: ''alcalde''), the deputy mayors (''tenientes de alcalde'') and the plenary assembly (''pleno'') of councillors (''concejales''). Municipalities are categorised by population for the purpose of determining the number of ''concejales'': three when the population is up to 100 inhabitants, five for 101250, seven for 2511,000, nine for 1,0012,000, eleven for 2,0015,000, thirteen for 5,00110,000, seventeen for 10,00120,000, twenty-one for 20,00150,000 and twenty-five for 50,001100,000. One councillor is added for every additional 100,000 inhabitants, with a further one added when the number of ''concejales'' based on this methodology would be even in order to prevent tied votes. The mayor and the deputy mayors are elected by the plenary assembly, which is itself elected by

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

. Elections in municipalities with more than 250 inhabitants are carried out following a

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

system with closed lists, whilst those with a population lower than 250 use a

block plurality voting Plurality block voting is a type of block voting method for multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled. The candidates with the most votes are elected. The usual result when the candidates divi ...

system with open lists. The plenary assembly must meet periodically at the seat of the ''ayuntamiento'', more or less often depending on the population of the municipality: monthly for those whose population is larger than 20,000, once every two months if it ranges between 5,001 and 20,000, and once every three months if it does not exceed 5,000. Many ''ayuntamientos'' also have a local governing board (Spanish: ''junta de gobierno local''), named by the mayor from amongst the councillors—it is required for municipalities of more than 5,000 inhabitants. The ''junta de gobierno local'', whose role is to assist the mayor between meetings of the plenary assembly, may not include more than one third of the councillors. The largest municipality by population in the province of Araba/Álava as of the 2023 Spanish census is

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

, its capital, with 255,423 residents, while the smallest is

Añana Añana is both a valley and municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain. Its main population center is the village of Salinas de Añana (). Moreover, Añana is also the name of one of the seven counties ...

with 156 residents. The largest municipality by area is also Vitoria-Gasteiz, which spans 276.98 km², while Lapuebla de Labarca is the smallest at 6.05 km².

Municipalities

Gasteiz, Euskal Herria.jpg, alt=Panoramic view of Vitoria-Gasteiz,

the province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they ...

's capital and largest municipality by population. Latiorro auzoa, Laudio.jpg, alt=View of Laudio/Llodio,

Laudio/Llodio Laudio in Basque or Llodio in Spanish is a town and municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain. Geography and Demography Llodio is an important industrial center located at 50 km NW from the provinc ...

, the second largest municipality by population in Araba/Álava Amurrioko eliza.jpg, alt=Church in Amurrio,

Amurrio Amurrio is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the northwest part of the province of Álava, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, northern Spain. It has over 10,000 inhabitants. It is between Vitori ...

is Araba/Álava's third largest municipality by population. Agurain eta Arabako Lautada.JPG, alt=View of Salvatierra/Agurain, Salvatierra/Agurain, Araba/Álava's fourth largest municipality by population

Municipalities

See also

References

Works cited

External links