A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Autonomous communities | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category | Autonomous administrative division |
| Location |  Kingdom of Spain |
| Created by | Spanish Constitution of 1978 |
| Created |
|
| 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 | |
In Spain, an autonomous community (Spanish: comunidad autónoma) is the first sub-national level of 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]
There are 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities (Ceuta and Melilla) that are collectively known as "autonomies" or regions.[i] The two autonomous cities have the right to become autonomous communities.
The autonomous communities exercise their right to self-government within the limits set forth in the constitution and organic laws known as Statutes of Autonomy,[ii] which broadly define the powers that they assume.
Each statute sets out the devolved powers (Spanish: competencia) for each community; typically those communities with stronger local nationalism have more powers, and this type of devolution has been called asymmetrical which is on the whole seen as advantageous, able to respond to diversity.[3]
Despite the Constitution not setting a mandatory legislative chamber framework, all autonomous communities have chosen unicameralism. All such governments have legislative and executive branches of government but not judicial.
Decentralisation model
The Spanish model is generally considered by foreign political scientists and scholars as "a federal system with certain peculiarities".[4] However it is also described as a decentralised[5][6] unitary country. While sovereignty is vested in the nation as a whole, represented in the central institutions of government, the nation has, to varying degrees, devolved power to the communities.
This unique framework of territorial administration has been labeled by the Constitutional Court as the "State of Autonomous Communities",[iii] to avoid implying either a unitary or federal model.[8] Some scholars have referred to the resulting system as a federal system in all but name, or a "federation without federalism".[7]
List of autonomous communities
The official names of the autonomous communities can be in Spanish only (which applies to the majority of them), in the co-official language in the community only (as in the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands), or in both Spanish and the co-official language (as in the Basque Country, Navarre and Galicia). Since 2006, Occitan—in its Aranese dialect—is also a co-official language in Catalonia, making it the only autonomous community whose name has three official variants (Spanish: Cataluña, Catalan: Catalunya, Occitan: Catalonha).
| Flag | Autonomous community |
Capital | President | Legislature | Government coalition |
Senate seats |
Area (km2) |
Pop. (2020) |
Density (/km2) |
GRP per capita (€) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Andalusia | Seville | Juan Manuel Moreno (PP) | Parliament | PP | 41 (9 RA, 32 DE) | 87,268 | 8,464,411 | 96 | 19,107 | Nationality |
|
Aragon | Zaragoza | Jorge Azcón (PP) | Cortes | PP, Vox | 14 (2 RA, 12 DE) | 47,719 | 1,329,391 | 28 | 28,151 | Nationality |
|
Asturias | Oviedo | Adrián Barbón (PSOE) | General Junta | FSA–PSOE, IU–IX, IAS | 6 (2 RA, 4 DE) | 10,604 | 1,018,784 | 96 | 22,789 | Historical community |
|
Balearic Islands | Palma | Marga Prohens (PP) | Parliament | PP | 7 (2 RA, 5 DE) | 4,992 | 1,171,543 | 230 | 27,682 | Nationality |
|
Basque Country | Vitoria-Gasteiz (de facto seat of institutions) |
Iñigo Urkullu (PNV) | Parliament | PNV, PSE-EE (PSOE) | 15 (3 RA, 12 DE) | 7,234 | 2,220,504 | 305 | 33,223 | Nationality |
|
Canary Islands | Las Palmas, Santa Cruz |
Fernando Clavijo Batlle (CC) | Parliament | CC, PP, ASG, AHI | 14 (3 RA, 11 DE) | 7,447 | 2,175,952 | 289 | 20,892 | Nationality |
|
Cantabria | Santander | María José Sáenz de Buruaga (PP) | Parliament | PP | 5 (1 RA, 4 DE) | 5,321 | 582,905 | 109 | 23,757 | Historical community |
|
Castile and León | Valladolid (de facto seat of institutions) |
Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (PP) | Cortes | PP, Vox | 39 (3 RA, 36 DE) | 94,223 | 2,394,918 | 25 | 24,031 | Historical community |
|
Castilla–La Mancha | Toledo | Emiliano García-Page (PSOE) | Cortes | PSOE | 23 (3 RA, 20 DE) | 79,463 | 2,045,221 | 26 | 20,363 | Region |
|
Catalonia | Barcelona | Pere Aragonès (ERC) | Parliament | ERC | 24 (8 RA, 16 DE) | 32,114 | 7,780,479 | 239 | 30,426 | Nationality |
|
Extremadura | Mérida | María Guardiola (PP) | Assembly | PP, Vox | 10 (2 RA, 8 DE) | 41,634 | 1,063,987 | 26 | 18,469 | Region |
|
Galicia | Santiago de Compostela | Alfonso Rueda (PP) | Parliament | PP | 19 (3 RA, 16 DE) | 29,574 | 2,701,819 | 91 | 23,183 | Nationality |
|
La Rioja | Logroño | Gonzalo Capellán (PP) | Parliament | PP | 5 (1 RA, 4 DE) | 5,045 | 319,914 | 63 | 27,225 | Region |
|
Madrid | City of Madrid | Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP) | Assembly | PP | 11 (7 RA, 4 DE) | 8,028 | 6,779,888 | 830 | 35,041 | Region |
|
Murcia | City of Murcia | Fernando López Miras (PP) | Regional Assembly | PP, Vox | 6 (2 RA, 4 DE) | 11,313 | 1,511,251 | 132 | 21,269 | Region |
|
Navarre | Pamplona | María Chivite (PSOE) | Parliament | PSN-PSOE, GBai, CN-ZN | 5 (1 RA, 4 DE) | 10,391 | 661,197 | 63 | 31,389 | Nationality |
|
Valencia | City of Valencia | Carlos Mazón (PP) | Cortes | PP, Vox | 17 (5 RA, 12 DE) | 23,255 | 5,057,353 | 215 | 22,426 | Nationality |
RA: Regionally Appointed
DE: Directly Elected
