Autonomous communities of Spain
First-level political and administrative division of Spain / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In Spain, an autonomous community (Spanish: comunidad autónoma) is the first-level political and administrative division, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy of the nationalities and regions that make up Spain.[1][2][3]
| Autonomous communities Spanish: comunidad autónoma[lower-alpha 1] | |
|---|---|
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| Category | Autonomous administrative division |
| Location |  Spain |
| Created by | Spanish Constitution of 1978 |
| Created |
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| Number | 17 autonomous communities 2 autonomous cities |
| Populations | Autonomous communities: 319,914 (La Rioja) – 8,464,411 (Andalusia) Autonomous cities: 84,202 (Ceuta) – 87,076 (Melilla) |
| Areas | Autonomous communities: 4,992 km2 (Balearic Islands) – 94,223 km2 (Castile and León) Autonomous cities: 12.3 km2 (Melilla) – 18.5 km2 (Ceuta) |
| Government | |
| Subdivisions | |
Spain is not a federation, but a decentralised[4][5] unitary country.[1] While sovereignty is vested in the nation as a whole, represented in the central institutions of government, the nation has, in variable degrees, devolved power to the communities, which, in turn, exercise their right to self-government within the limits set forth in the constitution and their autonomous statutes.[1] Each community has its own set of devolved powers; typically those communities with stronger local nationalism have more powers, and this type of devolution has been called asymmetrical. Some scholars have referred to the resulting system as a federal system in all but name, or a "federation without federalism".[6] There are 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities that are collectively known as "autonomies".[lower-roman 1] The two autonomous cities have the right to become autonomous communities, but neither has yet exercised it. This unique framework of territorial administration is known as the "State of Autonomies".[lower-roman 2]
The autonomous communities are governed according to the constitution and their own organic laws known as Statutes of Autonomy,[lower-roman 3] which define the powers that they assume. Since devolution was intended to be asymmetrical in nature,[7] the scope of powers (Spanish: competencia) varies for each community, but all have the same parliamentary structure; in fact, despite the Constitution not setting a mandatory legislative chamber framework, all autonomous communities have chosen unicameralism.[1]