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A province in Spain is a territorial division defined as a collection of municipalities. The current provinces of Spain correspond by and large to the provinces created under the purview of the 1833 territorial re-organization of Spain, with a similar predecessor from 1822 (during the Trienio Liberal) and an earlier precedent in the 1810 Napoleonic division of Spain into 84 prefectures. There are many other groupings of municipalities that comprise the local government of Spain.
| Provinces of Spain | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Category | Province |
| Location | Spain |
| Found in | Autonomous community |
| Created by | Royal Decree (30/11/1833) |
| Created |
|
| Number | 50 |
| Populations | 95,258–6,458,684 |
| Areas | 1,980–21,766 km² |
| Government |
|
| Subdivisions |
|
The boundaries of provinces can only be altered by the Spanish Parliament, giving rise to the common view that the 17 autonomous communities are subdivided into 50 provinces. In reality the system is not hierarchical but defined according to jurisdiction (Spanish: competencias).
The body charged with government and administration of a province is the Provincial council, but their existence is controversial. As the province is defined as a "local entity" in the Constitution, the Provincial council belongs to the sphere of local government.
Provincial organization
This section does not cite any sources. (January 2016) |
The layout of Spain's provinces closely follows the pattern of the territorial division of the country carried out in 1833. The only major change of provincial borders since that time has been the division of the Province of Canary Islands into the provinces of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Historically, the provinces served mainly as transmission belts for policies enacted in Madrid, as Spain was a highly centralised state for most of its modern history. The provinces were the "building-blocks" from which the autonomous communities were created following processed defined in the 1978 Constitution. Consequently, no province is divided between these communities.
The importance of the provinces has declined since the adoption of the system of autonomous communities in the period of the Spanish transition to democracy. They nevertheless remain electoral districts for national elections.
Provinces are also used as geographical references: for instance in postal addresses and telephone codes. National media will also frequently use the province to disambiguate small towns or communities whose names occur frequently throughout Spain. A small town would normally be identified as being in, say, Valladolid province rather than the autonomous community of Castile and León. In addition, organisations outside Spain use provinces for statistical analysis and policy making and in comparison with other countries including NUTS, OECD, FIPS, CIA World Factbook, ISO 3166-2 and the UN's Second Administrative Level Boundaries data set project (SALB).
Most of the provinces are named after their capital town —with the exceptions of Álava, Asturias, Biscay, Cantabria, Gipuzkoa, the Balearic Islands, La Rioja, and Navarre, and a name reduction in Las Palmas and Castellón— and biggest town —with the exception of Pontevedra (Vigo), Asturias (Gijón) and Cádiz (Jerez). Only two capitals of autonomous communities—Mérida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia—are not also the capitals of provinces.
Seven of the autonomous communities comprise no more than one province each: Asturias, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarre. These are sometimes referred to as "uniprovincial" communities. Ceuta, Melilla, and the plazas de soberanía are not part of any province.
The table below lists the provinces of Spain. For each, the capital city is given, together with an indication of the autonomous community to which it belongs and a link to a list of municipalities in the province. The names of the provinces and their capitals are ordered alphabetically according to the form in which they appear in the main Wikipedia articles describing them. Unless otherwise indicated, their Spanish-language names are the same; locally valid names in Spain's other co-official languages (Basque, Catalan, which is officially called Valencian in the Valencian Community, Galician) are also indicated where they differ.
Provinces
| Province name | Capital | Autonomous community | Lists of municipalities |
|---|---|---|---|
 A Coruña (Galician); La Coruña (Spanish) | A Coruña (Galician); La Coruña (Spanish) |  Galicia | Municipalities |
 Álava (Spanish); Araba (Basque) | Vitoria (Spanish); Gasteiz (Basque) |  Basque Country | Municipalities |
 Albacete | Albacete |  Castilla-La Mancha | Municipalities |
 Alicante (Spanish); Alacant (Valencian) | Alicante; Alacant (Valencian) |  Valencian Community | Municipalities |
 Almería | Almería |  Andalusia | Municipalities |
 Asturias | Oviedo | Asturias | Municipalities |
 Ávila | Ávila |  Castile and León | Municipalities |
 Badajoz | Badajoz |  Extremadura | Municipalities |
 Balearic Islands (English); Illes Balears (Catalan); Islas Baleares (Spanish) | Palma | Balearic Islands | Municipalities |
 Barcelona | Barcelona |  Catalonia | Municipalities |
 Biscay (English); Vizcaya (Spanish); Bizkaia (Basque) | Bilbao (Spanish); Bilbo (Basque) | Basque Country | Municipalities |
 Burgos | Burgos | Castile and León | Municipalities |
 Cáceres | Cáceres | Extremadura | Municipalities |
 Cádiz | Cádiz | Andalusia | Municipalities |
 Cantabria | Santander |  Cantabria | Municipalities |
 Castellón (Spanish); Castelló (Valencian) | Castellón de la Plana; Castelló de la Plana (Valencian) | Valencian Community | Municipalities |
 Ciudad Real | Ciudad Real | Castilla-La Mancha | Municipalities |
 Córdoba | Córdoba | Andalusia | Municipalities |
 Cuenca | Cuenca | Castilla-La Mancha | Municipalities |
 Guipúzcoa (Spanish); Gipuzkoa (Basque) | San Sebastián (Spanish); Donostia (Basque) | Basque Country | Municipalities |
 Girona (Catalan); Gerona (Spanish) | Girona (Catalan); Gerona (Spanish) | Catalonia | Municipalities |
 Granada | Granada | Andalusia | Municipalities |
 Guadalajara | Guadalajara | Castilla-La Mancha | Municipalities |
 Huelva | Huelva | Andalusia | Municipalities |
 Huesca | Huesca (Spanish language) |  Aragon | Municipalities |
 Jaén | Jaén | Andalusia | Municipalities |
 La Rioja | Logroño | La Rioja | Municipalities |
 Las Palmas | Las Palmas |  Canary Islands | Municipalities |
 León | León | Castile and León | Municipalities |
 Lleida (Catalan); Lérida (Spanish) | Lleida (Catalan); Lérida (Spanish) | Catalonia | Municipalities |
 Lugo | Lugo | Galicia | Municipalities |
 Madrid | Madrid | Community of Madrid | Municipalities |
 Málaga | Málaga | Andalusia | Municipalities |
 Murcia | Murcia | Region of Murcia | Municipalities |
 Navarre; Navarra (Spanish); Nafarroa (Basque) | Pamplona; Iruña (Basque) | Navarre | Municipalities |
 Ourense (Galician); Orense (Spanish) | Ourense (Galician); Orense (Spanish) | Galicia | Municipalities |
 Palencia | Palencia | Castile and León | Municipalities |
 Pontevedra | Pontevedra | Galicia | Municipalities |
 Salamanca | Salamanca | Castile and León | Municipalities |
 Santa Cruz de Tenerife | Santa Cruz de Tenerife | Canary Islands | Municipalities |
 Segovia | Segovia | Castile and León | Municipalities |
 Seville; Sevilla (Spanish) | Seville; Sevilla (Spanish) | Andalusia | Municipalities |
 Soria | Soria | Castile and León | Municipalities |
 Tarragona | Tarragona | Catalonia | Municipalities |
 Teruel | Teruel | Aragon | Municipalities |
 Toledo | Toledo | Castilla-La Mancha | Municipalities |
 Valencia; València (Valencian) | Valencia; València (Valencian) | Valencian Community | Municipalities |
 Valladolid | Valladolid | Castile and León | Municipalities |
 Zamora | Zamora | Castile and León | Municipalities |
 Zaragoza | Zaragoza | Aragon | Municipalities |
Notes
References
- Spanish Constitution 1978, Article 141(1).
- Zafra Víctor 2004, p. 102.
- Local Government Act 1985, Article 31.
- Canel 1994, pp. 51.
- Local Government Act 1985, Articles 40-44.
- MPA, paragraph 1.
- See Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities.
Bibliography
- "The Spanish Constitution" (PDF). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. 1978. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
- "Local Government Act (Organic Law 7/1985)" (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. 1985. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
- Zafra Víctor, Manuel (2004). "Reflexiones sobre el gobierno local" [Reflections on local government] (PDF). Anuario del Gobierno Local (in Spanish) (1). Barcelona: Institut de Dret Públic. ISBN 84-609-5895-7. ISSN 2013-4924. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2016-08-09. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- "Local Government in Spain" (PDF). Ministry of Public Administration. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
See also
- Political divisions of Spain
- Local government in Spain
- Autonomous communities of Spain
- Comarcas of Spain
- ISO 3166-2:ES
- List of provincial flags of Spain
- Ranked lists of Spanish provinces
- Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces
External links
- Maps of the provinces of Spain
- List of municipalities of Spain listed by province from the Spanish INE (National Statistics Institute) (in Spanish)
This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Provinces of Spain news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2012 Learn how and when to remove this message A province in Spain is a territorial division defined as a collection of municipalities The current provinces of Spain correspond by and large to the provinces created under the purview of the 1833 territorial re organization of Spain with a similar predecessor from 1822 during the Trienio Liberal and an earlier precedent in the 1810 Napoleonic division of Spain into 84 prefectures There are many other groupings of municipalities that comprise the local government of Spain Provinces of SpainCategoryProvinceLocationSpainFound inAutonomous communityCreated byRoyal Decree 30 11 1833 Created1833Number50Populations95 258 6 458 684Areas1 980 21 766 km GovernmentProvincial councilSubdivisionsComarca municipality The boundaries of provinces can only be altered by the Spanish Parliament giving rise to the common view that the 17 autonomous communities are subdivided into 50 provinces In reality the system is not hierarchical but defined according to jurisdiction Spanish competencias The body charged with government and administration of a province is the Provincial council but their existence is controversial As the province is defined as a local entity in the Constitution the Provincial council belongs to the sphere of local government Provincial organizationThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed January 2016 Learn how and when to remove this message The layout of Spain s provinces closely follows the pattern of the territorial division of the country carried out in 1833 The only major change of provincial borders since that time has been the division of the Province of Canary Islands into the provinces of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife Historically the provinces served mainly as transmission belts for policies enacted in Madrid as Spain was a highly centralised state for most of its modern history The provinces were the building blocks from which the autonomous communities were created following processed defined in the 1978 Constitution Consequently no province is divided between these communities The importance of the provinces has declined since the adoption of the system of autonomous communities in the period of the Spanish transition to democracy They nevertheless remain electoral districts for national elections Provinces are also used as geographical references for instance in postal addresses and telephone codes National media will also frequently use the province to disambiguate small towns or communities whose names occur frequently throughout Spain A small town would normally be identified as being in say Valladolid province rather than the autonomous community of Castile and Leon In addition organisations outside Spain use provinces for statistical analysis and policy making and in comparison with other countries including NUTS OECD FIPS CIA World Factbook ISO 3166 2 and the UN s Second Administrative Level Boundaries data set project SALB Most of the provinces are named after their capital town with the exceptions of Alava Asturias Biscay Cantabria Gipuzkoa the Balearic Islands La Rioja and Navarre and a name reduction in Las Palmas and Castellon and biggest town with the exception of Pontevedra Vigo Asturias Gijon and Cadiz Jerez Only two capitals of autonomous communities Merida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia are not also the capitals of provinces Seven of the autonomous communities comprise no more than one province each Asturias the Balearic Islands Cantabria La Rioja Madrid Murcia and Navarre These are sometimes referred to as uniprovincial communities Ceuta Melilla and the plazas de soberania are not part of any province A map of Spain s provinces Names are shown in Spanish Ceuta and Melilla are not part of any province The table below lists the provinces of Spain For each the capital city is given together with an indication of the autonomous community to which it belongs and a link to a list of municipalities in the province The names of the provinces and their capitals are ordered alphabetically according to the form in which they appear in the main Wikipedia articles describing them Unless otherwise indicated their Spanish language names are the same locally valid names in Spain s other co official languages Basque Catalan which is officially called Valencian in the Valencian Community Galician are also indicated where they differ ProvincesProvince name Capital Autonomous community Lists of municipalitiesA Coruna Galician La Coruna Spanish A Coruna Galician La Coruna Spanish Galicia MunicipalitiesAlava Spanish Araba Basque Vitoria Spanish Gasteiz Basque Basque Country MunicipalitiesAlbacete Albacete Castilla La Mancha MunicipalitiesAlicante Spanish Alacant Valencian Alicante Alacant Valencian Valencian Community MunicipalitiesAlmeria Almeria Andalusia MunicipalitiesAsturias Oviedo Asturias MunicipalitiesAvila Avila Castile and Leon MunicipalitiesBadajoz Badajoz Extremadura MunicipalitiesBalearic Islands English Illes Balears Catalan Islas Baleares Spanish Palma Balearic Islands MunicipalitiesBarcelona Barcelona Catalonia MunicipalitiesBiscay English Vizcaya Spanish Bizkaia Basque Bilbao Spanish Bilbo Basque Basque Country MunicipalitiesBurgos Burgos Castile and Leon MunicipalitiesCaceres Caceres Extremadura MunicipalitiesCadiz Cadiz Andalusia MunicipalitiesCantabria Santander Cantabria MunicipalitiesCastellon Spanish Castello Valencian Castellon de la Plana Castello de la Plana Valencian Valencian Community MunicipalitiesCiudad Real Ciudad Real Castilla La Mancha MunicipalitiesCordoba Cordoba Andalusia MunicipalitiesCuenca Cuenca Castilla La Mancha MunicipalitiesGuipuzcoa Spanish Gipuzkoa Basque San Sebastian Spanish Donostia Basque Basque Country MunicipalitiesGirona Catalan Gerona Spanish Girona Catalan Gerona Spanish Catalonia MunicipalitiesGranada Granada Andalusia MunicipalitiesGuadalajara Guadalajara Castilla La Mancha MunicipalitiesHuelva Huelva Andalusia MunicipalitiesHuesca Huesca Spanish language Aragon MunicipalitiesJaen Jaen Andalusia MunicipalitiesLa Rioja Logrono La Rioja MunicipalitiesLas Palmas Las Palmas Canary Islands MunicipalitiesLeon Leon Castile and Leon MunicipalitiesLleida Catalan Lerida Spanish Lleida Catalan Lerida Spanish Catalonia MunicipalitiesLugo Lugo Galicia MunicipalitiesMadrid Madrid Community of Madrid MunicipalitiesMalaga Malaga Andalusia MunicipalitiesMurcia Murcia Region of Murcia MunicipalitiesNavarre Navarra Spanish Nafarroa Basque Pamplona Iruna Basque Navarre MunicipalitiesOurense Galician Orense Spanish Ourense Galician Orense Spanish Galicia MunicipalitiesPalencia Palencia Castile and Leon MunicipalitiesPontevedra Pontevedra Galicia MunicipalitiesSalamanca Salamanca Castile and Leon MunicipalitiesSanta Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands MunicipalitiesSegovia Segovia Castile and Leon MunicipalitiesSeville Sevilla Spanish Seville Sevilla Spanish Andalusia MunicipalitiesSoria Soria Castile and Leon MunicipalitiesTarragona Tarragona Catalonia MunicipalitiesTeruel Teruel Aragon MunicipalitiesToledo Toledo Castilla La Mancha MunicipalitiesValencia Valencia Valencian Valencia Valencia Valencian Valencian Community MunicipalitiesValladolid Valladolid Castile and Leon MunicipalitiesZamora Zamora Castile and Leon MunicipalitiesZaragoza Zaragoza Aragon MunicipalitiesNotesSpanish provincias IPA pɾoˈbin8jas sing provincia Basque probintziak IPA pɾobints iak sing probintzia Catalan provincies IPA pɾuˈbinsies sing provincia Galician provincias IPA pɾoˈbin8jɐs sing provincia ReferencesSpanish Constitution 1978 Article 141 1 Zafra Victor 2004 p 102 Local Government Act 1985 Article 31 Canel 1994 pp 51 sfn error no target CITEREFCanel1994 help Local Government Act 1985 Articles 40 44 MPA paragraph 1 See Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities Bibliography The Spanish Constitution PDF Agencia Estatal Boletin Oficial del Estado 1978 Retrieved 12 June 2019 Local Government Act Organic Law 7 1985 in Spanish Agencia Estatal Boletin Oficial del Estado 1985 Retrieved 12 June 2019 Zafra Victor Manuel 2004 Reflexiones sobre el gobierno local Reflections on local government PDF Anuario del Gobierno Local in Spanish 1 Barcelona Institut de Dret Public ISBN 84 609 5895 7 ISSN 2013 4924 Archived from the original pdf on 2016 08 09 Retrieved 9 June 2022 Local Government in Spain PDF Ministry of Public Administration Retrieved 11 June 2022 See alsoPolitical divisions of Spain Local government in Spain Autonomous communities of Spain Comarcas of Spain ISO 3166 2 ES List of provincial flags of Spain Ranked lists of Spanish provinces Spanish Federation of Municipalities and ProvincesExternal linksWikimedia Commons has media related to Provinces of Spain Maps of the provinces of Spain List of municipalities of Spain listed by province from the Spanish INE National Statistics Institute in Spanish
