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Local government in Spain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Local government in Spain refers to the government and administration of what the Constitution calls "local entities", which are primarily municipalities, but also groups of municipalities including provinces, metropolitan areas, comarcas and mancomunidades and sub-municipal groups known as minor local entities (Spanish: Entidad de Ámbito Territorial Inferior al Municipio).[1][2][3]
The administration of these entities is mostly provided by a council, each with a different name and set of rules (Spanish: régimen). These councils can be collectively thought of as a third sphere (or tier) of government, the first being the State (Spain) and the second, the regional governments.[4][5]
The powers enjoyed by local government are defined in both central government and regional government legislation.[6] Consequently and for historical reasons, local government is heterogeneous, not distributed in a balanced way across the nation,[7] involves duplication of services[8] and has even been labelled dysfunctional.[9] The Constitution declares that local government has autonomy which broadly means that the entities have the right to take decisions for the running of local services without political interference from the Regions or from the central government. However the concept has proven difficult to define in a detailed legal way.[10]
Although Spain adheres to the European Charter of Local Self-Government, it declares itself not bound to the full extent by the requirement for direct elections of all local government authorities. [11][12]
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Governing bodies
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Municipal council
The governing and administrative body for most of the municipalities is the Ayuntamiento. The main organ of the Ayuntamiento is the plenary, the deliberative body formed by the elected councillors, and presided by the alcalde (English: Mayor). Unlike most European countries the mayor is not directly elected. The mayor is invested (and can be removed) by the councillors.[13]
Open council
The concejo abierto ("open council") is the system used for the government and administration of low-population municipalities and some minor local entities. The government is exercised by a Mayor and the asamblea vecinal ("neighbourhood assembly"), formed by all the electors of the municipality. The Mayor is elected directly by the citizens.[13][14]
Provincial council
Provinces are groupings of municipalities. Before the creation of the autonomous communities from 1978 on, provinces were the main administrative entity in Spain other than the central government. The governing and administrative body of the mainland provinces is the diputación provincial ("provincial council"). However, in six of the 17 autonomous communities (Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarre), the functions of the only provincial council are assumed by the regional government.[15] In the Balearic Islands and The Canary Islands, the functions of a provincial council are assumed by an island council on each island.[16][17]
A provincial council is made up of a plenary, the deliberative body, and an executive committee formed by the president and the deputies.[18] The provincial councilors are indirectly elected to a 4-year mandate by the municipal councils as function of the results of the municipal elections.[19]
Island council
In contrast to the rest of Spain, the two provinces of the Canary Islands and the province of the Balearic Islands do not have provincial councils. Instead, each of the seven major islands of the Canaries is administered by a cabildo (English: island council) and the four major islands of the Balearic Islands is administered by a consejo insular (English: island council). The functions normally undertaken by a provincial council are divided between the island councils and the regional governments of the respective autonomous communities.[20][16][17]
Comarcal council
Comarcas are groupings of municipalities, established by regional governments, principally in Catalonia, Aragon, the Basque Country and Galicia but also one in Castile and León. The comarcal council is the local administration and government body in comarcas in Catalonia and Aragon[21][22][23][24] but in Galicia comarcas do not have administrative function.[25]
Metropolitan council
There are three local entities designated as Metropolitan Areas: Barcelona and two in Valencia,[26] The Metropolitan Area of Barcelona is governed by a Metropolitan Council made up of representatives of the 36 councils making up its area, including the mayors as ex officio members of the council. It is responsible primarily for public transport, urban planning, water supply and treatment across the metropolitan area.[14][22]
The governing body of each of the Valencian Entidad Metropolitana de Servicios Hidráulicos (EMTRE) and the Entidad Metropolitana para el Tratamiento de Residuos (EMSHI) is the assembly.
Others
There are a variety of other administrative bodies which are highly dependent on the particular regional legislation including:[27][28]
- Junta (English: assembly or board) used for some mancomunidades (not to be confused with the governing body of some autonomous communities)
- Junta vecinal used for some minor local entities particularly in Cantabria
- Alcalde pedáneo a single person mayor used for some minor local entities.
- Concejo used for some minor local entities in Álava in the Basque Country.
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Number
The number of registered local entities in June 2022 is shown in the following table.[29]
Nearly all the minor local entities are in the autonomous community of Castile and León.[30]
References
Bibliography
See also
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