Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

is (as of 2018) divided into 947

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. Each municipality typically represents one significant urban settlement, of any size from village to city, with its surrounding land. This is not always the case, though. Many municipalities have merged as a result of

rural depopulation Rural flight (also known as rural-to-urban migration, rural depopulation, or rural exodus) is the migratory pattern of people from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective. In industrializing economies ...

or simply for greater efficiency. Some large urban areas, for example

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, consist of more than one municipality, each of which previously held a separate settlement. The Catalan government encourages mergers of very small municipalities; its "Report on the revision of Catalonia's territorial organisation model" (the ""), published in 2000 but not yet implemented, recommends many such mergers. Larger municipalities may sometimes grant the status of ''

decentralised municipal entity Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...

'' (, ) to one or more of its settlements, for more effective provision of services or to substitute for its previous status as a separate municipality. Each municipality is run by a

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

elected by the residents at periodic nationwide

local election In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct var ...

s. The council consists of a number of members depending on population, who elect the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

(, ). The

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

() is located in the main settlement, and deals with provision of local services and administrative matters such as registration of residents. The "main settlement" is not always the biggest settlement, as new urban developments such as tourist resorts can become very big very quickly without achieving any political recognition. Boundaries between municipalities have their origins in ancient landholdings and transfers, and may often appear quite arbitrary and illogical, with

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

s common. Catalonia's municipalities are (as of 1987) grouped into 42 ''

comarques The comarques of Catalonia (singular ''comarca'', , ), often referred to in English as counties, are an administrative division of Catalonia. Each comarca comprises a number of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the United States. ...

'' (by the Catalan government) and four

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

(by the Spanish government). Occasional revisions of the boundaries of comarcas have resulted in municipalities moving from one comarca to another; see the list at

Comarques of Catalonia The comarques of Catalonia (singular ''comarca'', , ), often referred to in English as counties, are an Subdivisions of Catalonia, administrative division of Catalonia. Each comarca comprises a number of municipalities of Catalonia, municipalitie ...

List of municipalities

The official names in Catalan are the only legal ones (except in the

Val d'Aran Aran (; ; ) (often known as the Aran Valley, or Val d'Aran in Aranese Occitan; in other forms of Occitan: ''Vath d'Aran'' or ''Vau d'Aran'', in Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', in Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an autonomous administrative entity (form ...

List of municipalities

Notes

References

External links