MUNICIPALITIES OF SPAIN

The 'municipalities of Spain' (Spanish: ''municipios''),
8111 in total, are the basic level of Spanish
local government. Each municipality forms part of a
province (fifty in total), which in
turn forms part or the whole of an autonomous community
(seventeen in total): some autonomous communities have
additional second level subdivisions, such as ''comarcas''
or ''mancomunidades''. The average population of a
municipality is about 5300, but this figure masks a huge
range: the most populous Spanish municipality is the city of
Madrid, with a population of 3,016,788 (2002),
while several rural municipalities have fewer than ten
inhabitants (e.g., Villarroya (La Rioja),
population 9 in 2002). The area of the municipal
territory (Spanish: ''término municipal'') usually ranges from
2 to 40 km², although municipalities such as
Tremp (Lleida) cover more than
400 km².
The organisation of the municipalities is governed by the Law
of 1985-04-02, completed by the Royal Decree-Law of
1986-04-18. 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 actually municipal powers
which have been pooled together.
Each municipality is a corporation with independent
legal personality: its governing body is
called the ''ayuntamiento'', a term which is often also used
to refer to the municipal offices or "town hall". The
''ayuntamiento'' is composed of the mayor
(Spanish: ''alcalde''), the deputy mayors (Spanish:
''tenientes de alcalde'') and the plenary assembly (''pleno'')
of councillors (''regidors''). The mayor and the deputy mayors
are elected by the plenary assembly, which is itself elected
by universal suffrage on a list system every five years
(next elections due in
May 2007). The plenary assembly must meet at least once every
three months, in public and at the seat of the ''ayuntamiento''.
Many ''ayuntamientos'' also have a governing commission
(''comissión de gobierno''), named by the mayor from among
the councillors, which is obligatory for municipalities of
more than 5000 inhabitants. The governing commission,
whose role is to assist the mayor between meetings of the
plenary assembly, cannot include more than one-third of the
councillors.

Contents

Translation of terms

See also

Translation of terms

English	Spanish	Catalan / Valencian	Galician	Basque
'Municipality'	Municipio	Municipi	Municipio
'Municipal corporation'	Ayuntamiento	Ajuntament	Concello
'Mayor'	Alcalde	Alcalde or Batlle	Alcalde
'Deputy Mayor'	Teniente de alcalde	Tinent d'alcalde	Tenente de alcalde
'Governing commission'	Comisión de gobierno	Comissió de govern	Comisión de goberno
'Plenary assembly'	Pleno	Ple	Pleno
'Councillor'	Concejal	Regidor	Concelleiro

See also

★ Municipality

★ List of municipalities in Spain