SECRETARÍA DE ESTADO

DE COOPERACIÓN
TERRITORIAL

DIRECCIÓN GENERAL
DIRECCIÓN GENERAL
DE COOPERACIÓN LOCAL
DE COOPERACIÓN LOCAL

LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
IN SPAIN
LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

The Spanish system of government is divided into three lev-

els of territorial power which are not organised in terms of
hierarchies but related by competence principles. These
three levels are the State, the Autonomous Communities,
and the Local Entities.

The 1978 Spanish Constitution gave the status of a consti-

tutional principle to the self-government of municipalities,
provinces and islands, guaranteeing their right to participate
in those affairs affecting their interests.

Local government is the level of government that is closest

to citizens. Following the Proximity Principle, the role of
Town Councils has been fundamental to the building of a
decentralised state in Spain, since they exercised the com-
petences with an important effect on quality of life of local
citizens.

TYPES OF LOCAL ENTITIES

Municipalities and Provinces are the two basic forms of

the territorial organisation of the State. Besides them, there
are other local entities:

► islands

► territories smaller than municipalities

► “mancomunidades”

► “comarcas”

► metropolitan areas

► other municipality groupings.

SPANISH LOCAL ENTITIES IN NUMBERS

In Spain, local government is characterised by the wide

variety of entities it comprises in terms of size, economic
activity, and geographic location.
At present, there are 8,112 municipalities in Spain.

The Autonomous Community with the largest number of

municipalities (2,248) is Castile & León, while the region
with the smallest number (45) is Murcia.

NUMBER OF MUNICIPALITIES
BY AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY
Andalusia 770
Aragon 731
Balearic Islands 67
Basque Country 251
Canary Islands 87
Cantabria 102
Castile-La Mancha 919
Castile & León 2,248
Catalonia 945
Community of Madrid 179
Community of Valencia 542
Extremadura 383
Foral Com. of Navarre 272
Galicia 315
La Rioja 174
Principality of Asturias 78
Region of Murcia 45
Ceuta and Melilla 2

0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500

Source: Registry of Local Entities at the General Directorate for Cooperation with Local Government.

In terms of population size, the largest municipality is

Madrid (3,132,463 inhabitants) and the smallest is Illán de
Vacas, in Toledo (6 inhabitants). 84% municipalities have
less than 5,000 inhabitants, but only 13% of the population
lives in them. On the other hand, there are 15 big cities in
Spain, inhabited by 250,000 or more citizens.

NUMBERS OF MUNICIPALITIES IN TERMS

OF POPULATION SIZE

Less than 6,817

5,000 inhabitants

Between 5,001 865

and 20,000 inhabitants

Between 20,001 228

and 50,000 inhabitants

More than 135

50,001 inhabitants
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000
Population as at 1/1/2006
Source: Registry of Local Entities at the General Directorate for Cooperation with Local Government.
The diversity mentioned above was met with the introduc-
tion of specific town council organisations based on
objective criteria, the most important of which is population
size. Thus, the following forms of municipality organisation
can be found:

 common organisational system

 system for large population centres, that is, munici-

palities with more than 75,000 inhabitants or under
economic, social, historical or cultural circumstances
similar to them

 special system for Madrid and Barcelona, the Span-

ish cities with the largest populations, giving rise to
special laws

 “concejo abierto” system.

With regard to surface area, the largest municipality is

Cáceres, in Extremadura (1,750.33 sq km), while the small-
est one is Emperador, in Valencia (0.03 sq km).

Provinces are necessary local entities resulting from the

grouping of municipalities. They were created in 1833 and
have remained the same, with slight variations, till the pres-
ent day. There are 50 provinces in Spain, and their main
functions are:

 guaranteeing compliance with the solidarity and bal-

ance principles among the municipalities they are
comprised of

 ensuring the provision of municipal services.

 being involved in the coordination of local govern-

ment with the Autonomous Communities and the
State.

The Balearic and Canary archipelagos feature yet another

territorial entity: islands, which are also self-governed. The
Balearic Islands comprise four islands, while the Canary
Islands include seven.
 YA OA
CA ZC
ASTURIAS CANTABRIA VIZ IPU
A CORUÑA GU
LUGO ÁLAVA
LEÓN NAVARRA
PONTEVEDRA BURGOS
PALENCIA LA RIOJA GIRONA
OURENSE HUESCA
LLEIDA
ZAMORA
SORIA BARCELONA
VALLADOLID
ZARAGOZA
SEGOVIA
TARRAGONA
SALAMANCA GUADALAJARA
TERUEL
ÁVILA MADRID
CASTELLÓN
CUENCA
CÁCERES TOLEDO
VALENCIA

ILLES BALEARS
CIUDAD REAL ALBACETE
BADAJOZ
ALICANTE

CÓRDOBA JAÉN
MURCIA
HUELVA
SEVILLA
GRANADA ALMERÍA
MÁLAGA
CADIZ

SANTA CRUZ
DE TENERIFE
LAS PALMAS
CEUTA MELILLA

There are almost 4,000 territorial entities smaller than

municipalities. Most of them (2,226) belong to the
Autonomous Community of Castile-León.

Given the small size of most Spanish municipalities, enti-

ties larger than them (“mancomunidades”, metropolitan
areas, and “comarcas”, among others) play a key role in the
functioning of the Government.

“Mancomunidades” are voluntarily established entities

aimed at carrying out joint projects or providing common
services. They have mushroomed in the past few years. At
present, there are more than 1,000, and new ones are
added every year.

As established in their Statutes of Self-Government,

Autonomous Communities can create “comarcas” or met-
ropolitan areas. “Comarcas” can be established to fulfil a
variety of goals at the local level or provide a variety of local
services common to the municipalities involved. Metropoli-
tan areas are local entities gathering municipalities with
large built-up urban areas whose inhabitants have economic
or social bonds that make joint planning or work/ service
coordination necessary.
LOCAL ELECTIONS

In the Spanish legal framework, the electoral system is

based on proportional representation. Elections are held
every four years, and over 66,000 local representatives are
elected in them.

Eligible voters are Spanish citizens, EU citizens living in the

municipality where they can vote, or citizens of countries to
which voting rights have been granted by a Treaty (e.g.
Norway).

Voting for Mayors is an indirect election, except in “concejo

abierto” systems, where local residents vote for their Mayor
directly. However, “concejo abierto” systems are applied in
small municipalities only.

BASIC COMPETENCES OF MUNICIPALITIES

FUNCTIONS OF MUNICIPAL EXPENDITURE

20,000,000

15,000,000

10,000,000

5,000,000

0
Public General Civil Social Production Production General Economic Transfers
debt services protection security, of public of public economic regulation of to other
and citizen social work goods for goods for regulation production levels of
and social financial sectors government
safety purposes
development purposes

Source: Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Individual municipalities or municipality associations should

provide a series of basic services depending on their popu-
lation size:

► All municipalities: public lighting, cemeteries, waste

collection, public cleaning, drinking water supply,
 sewer system, access to urban areas, road surfacing,
and food and drink control.
► Municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants: pub-
lic parks, public libraries, market, and waste man-
agement.
► Municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants:
civil defence, social work, fire safety, and sports fa-
cilities for public use.
► Municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants:
urban passenger transport and environment protec-
tion.

FINANCING LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The Spanish Constitution lays down two basic principles

with regard to Local Economies: financial autonomy and
financial self-sufficiency.

The principle of financial autonomy means that municipali-

ties, provinces and islands can make their own decisions on
resources and how to spend them. The principle of finan-
cial self-sufficiency is aimed at guaranteeing that all
municipalities have the necessary resources to exercise their
competences.

LOCAL EXPENDITURE

19.3% 3.0%
69.1%

8.6%

Town Councils Common Regional Councils

Provincial Councils Island Councils and Inter-Island Councils
In order to be self-sufficient, Local Treasuries rely on the fol-
lowing resources:

► income from self-owned assets

► local taxes (fees, special contributions, duties)

► surcharges on the Autonomous Communities or

other Local Entities’ taxes

► shares in the State and the Autonomous Communi-

ties’ taxes

► subsidies

► public fares

► credit transactions

► fines and other sanctions.

PUBLIC INCOME STRUCTURE

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
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Cou cial
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Local taxes Income from self-owned assets

Income from transfers Financial income
THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN CONNECTION WITH
LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The relationships between the State and the Local Entities

are regulated by the principles of self-government and
cooperation. No party can perform control functions beyond
those of the Courts of Justice, except in special cases.

Therefore, the relationships between the State and the

Local Entities are aimed at defining the framework and pro-
cedures to facilitate cooperation and coordination between
different levels of government. Two cooperation bodies are
particularly important in the shaping of these relationships:

 the National Committee of Local Government, the

permanent body for cooperation between the two
levels of government in charge of reporting on those
State provisions or regulations affecting the Local
Entities and also in charge of issues pertaining to
Local Treasuries.
 the Sector Conference for Local Government, gath-
ering representatives of the State, the Autonomous
Communities and the Local Entities in one forum for
the discussion of local government policies.

The Economic Cooperation Programme between the State

and the Local Entities should also be mentioned. This pro-
gramme has the following goals:

a) contributing to the making of investments in works

or services at the local level as included in provincial
or island cooperation plans
b) participating in community interventions under the
Local Economic Cooperation Programme.
c) contributing to the modernisation of local govern-
ment through the use of information technologies.
d) encouraging citizen participation for the improve-
ment of local services.
MUNICIPALITY ASSOCIATIONS

The contrasting structure and the high number of munici-

palities in Spain have led to the creation of Municipality
Groupings or Associations, which represent municipalities in
their relationships with the Autonomous Communities and
the State.

At the State level, the National Association of Munici-

palities and Provinces (FEMP) comprises 7,286 entities
(Town Councils, Provincial Councils, Island Councils, and
Inter-Island Councils) with the aim of encouraging and pro-
tecting the autonomy of Local Entities by representing and
defending their interests before the other two levels of gov-
ernment.

In addition, there are Municipality Associations operating at

the regional level in all the Autonomous Communities.
RELEVANT LAWS AND REGULATIONS

 1978 Spanish Constitution

 Law 7/1985, of April 2nd, regulating the Bases of Local

Government

 Organic law 5/1985, of June 19th, on the General Elec-

toral System

 Royal legislative decree 781/1986, of April 18th, approv-

ing the amended text of the regulations in force on local
government

 Law 18/2001, of December 12th, on budget stability

 Royal legislative decree 2/2004, of March 5th, approving

the amended text of the law regulating Local Treasuries

 Law 1/2006, of March 13th, regulating the special organ-

isational system for the municipality of Barcelona

 Law 22/2006, of July 4th, on Capital Status and Special

Regime of Madrid
 USEFUL LINKS

www.060.es

www.map.es

www.meh.es

www.femp.es

SECRETARÍA DE ESTADO
DE COOPERACIÓN
TERRITORIAL

DIRECCIÓN GENERAL
DE COOPERACIÓN LOCAL

Published by: MAP-S.G.T. — NIPO: 326-08-046-8