Mancomunitat

In present-day Spain, a mancomunidad (English: municipal association) is an association of municipalities voluntarily established by some municipalities with the aim of carrying out joint projects or providing common services. A mancomunidad is one of the local entities defined for the purpose of local government, to which those municipalities may voluntarily delegate some of their functions and powers. There were 1,023 mancomunidades in 2011. PurposeIn general, mancomunidades are aimed at carrying out projects or providing common services. A mancomunidad has legal personality, and can exist either for a particular period to achieve a concrete goal or can exist indefinitely. A mancomunidad is similar to a comarca, with the difference that comarca has somewhat different meanings in the various autonomous communities of Spain and mancomunidad is defined identically throughout the country. The municipalities in a single mancomunidad need not be (though they usually are). They are required to set a clear goal, create management bodies distinct from those of the individual municipalities, and provide the mancomunidad with its own budget. There are a number of historical or natural regio