Municipalities in Castilla–La Mancha

Map of Spain with the province of Castilla–La Mancha highlighted
Map of Spain with the province of Castilla–La Mancha highlighted

Castilla–La Mancha is an autonomous community of Spain that is divided into five provinces and 919 municipalities. There are 87 municipalities in Albacete, 102 municipalities in Ciudad Real, 238 municipalities in Cuenca, 288 municipalities in Guadalajara, and 204 municipalities in Toledo.

The organisation of municipalities in Spain is outlined in a local government law (Spanish: Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local; transl. Law 7/1985, of 2 April, Regulating the Bases of the Local Administration) passed on 2 April 1985[1] and finalised by an 18 April 1986 royal decree.[2] The Statute of Autonomy of Castilla–La Mancha also contains provisions concerning the relations between the municipalities and the autonomous government of Castilla–La Mancha.[3] All citizens of Spain are required to register in the municipality in which they reside.[4] Each municipality is a corporation with independent legal personhood: its governing body is called the ayuntamiento (municipal council or corporation),[5] a term often also used to refer to the municipal offices (city and town halls). The ayuntamiento is composed of the mayor (Spanish: alcalde), the deputy mayors (tenientes de alcalde) and the plenary assembly (pleno) of councillors (concejales).[6] Municipalities are categorised by population for the purpose of determining the number of councillors: three when the population is up to 100 inhabitants, five for 101–250, seven for 251–1,000, nine for 1,001–2,000, eleven for 2,001–5,000, thirteen for 5,001–10,000, seventeen for 10,001–20,000, twenty-one for 20,001–50,000, and twenty-five for 50,001–100,000.[7] One councillor is added for every additional 100,000 inhabitants, with a further one added when the number of councillors based on this methodology would be even in order to prevent tied votes.[8]

The mayor and the deputy mayors are elected by the plenary assembly, which is itself elected by universal suffrage.[9] Elections in municipalities with more than 250 inhabitants are carried out following a proportional representation system with closed lists,[8] whilst those with a population lower than 250 use a block plurality voting system with open lists.[10] The plenary assembly must meet periodically at the seat of the ayuntamiento, with meetings occurring more or less frequently depending on the population of the municipality: monthly for those whose population is larger than 20,000, once every two months if it ranges between 5,001 and 20,000, and once every three months if it does not exceed 5,000.[11] Many ayuntamientos also have a local governing board (Spanish: junta de gobierno local), which is named by the mayor from amongst the councillors and is required for municipalities of more than 5,000 inhabitants.[6] The board, whose role is to assist the mayor between meetings of the plenary assembly, may not include more than one third of the councillors.[12]

The most populous municipalities in each province are: Albacete with 173,202 residents in the province of Albacete which as also the most populous municipality in Castilla–La Mancha, Ciudad Real with 75,254 residents in the province of Ciudad Real, Cuenca with 53,630 residents in the province of Cuenca, Guadalajara with 88,886 residents in the province of Guadalajara, and Toledo with 85,818 residents in the province of Toledo.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ BOE 1985.
  2. ^ BOE 1986.
  3. ^ BOE 1982.
  4. ^ BOE 1985, p. 15.
  5. ^ BOE 1985, pp. 13–14.
  6. ^ a b BOE 1985, p. 19.
  7. ^ LOREG 1985, pp. 64–65.
  8. ^ a b LOREG 1985, p. 65.
  9. ^ LOREG 1985, p. 7.
  10. ^ LOREG 1985, p. 66.
  11. ^ BOE 1985, p. 33.
  12. ^ BOE 1985, p. 21.
  13. ^ "Censo anual de población 2021-2023. Resultados por municipios. 2021-2023. Población por sexo, edad (grupos quinquenales) y nacionalidad (española/extranjera)" (in Spanish). National Statistics Institute. Retrieved 27 May 2024.