Autonomous Communities

In Spain, an autonomous community (Spanish: comunidad autónoma) is the first-level 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.

Spain is not a federation, but a decentralised unitary country. While sovereignty is vested in the nation as a whole, represented in the central institutions of government, the nation has, in variable degrees, devolved power to the communities, which, in turn, exercise their right to self-government within the limits set forth in the constitution and their autonomous statutes. Each community has its own set of devolved powers; typically those communities with stronger local nationalism have more powers, and this type of devolution has been called asymmetrical. Some scholars have referred to the resulting system as a federal system in all but name, or a “federation without federalism”. There are 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities that are collectively known as “autonomies”. The two autonomous cities have the right to become autonomous communities, but neither has yet exercised it. This unique framework of territorial administration is known as the “State of Autonomies”.

 

The autonomous communities are governed according to the constitution and their own organic laws known as Statutes of Autonomy, which define the powers that they assume. Since devolution was intended to be asymmetrical in nature, the scope of powers (Spanish: competencia) varies for each community, but all have the same parliamentary structure; in fact, despite the Constitution not setting a mandatory legislative chamber framework, all autonomous communities have chosen unicameralism.

Andalusia

Andalusia (UK: /ˌændəˈluːsiə, -ziə/, US: /-ʒ(i)ə, -ʃ(i)ə/; Spanish: Andalucía [andaluˈθi.a]) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The territory is divided into eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga, and Seville. Its capital city is Seville. The seat of the High Court of Justice of Andalusia is located in the city of Granada. Andalusia is located in...

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Balearic Islands Etymology

The official name of the Balearic Islands in Catalan is Illes Balears, while in Spanish, they are known as the Islas Baleares. The ancient Greeks usually adopted local names into their own language, but they called the islands Γυμνησίαι/Gymnesiai, unlike the native inhabitants of the islands, as well as the Carthaginians and Romans, who called...

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Cantabria Geography

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Canary Islands Physical geography

Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the archipelago. Gran Canaria, with 865,070 inhabitants, is both the Canary Islands' second most populous island, and the third most populous one in Spain after Tenerife (966,354 inhabitants) and Majorca (896,038 inhabitants). The island of Fuerteventura is the second largest in the archipelago and located 100...

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Aragon

Aragon (UK: /ˈærəɡən/ ARR-ə-gən, US: /-ɡɒn/ -⁠gon; Spanish and Aragonese: Aragón [aɾaˈɣon]; Catalan: Aragó [əɾəˈɣo]) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to south): Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza. The current Statute of Autonomy...

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Cantabria Demographics

According to the 2009 census, the region has a population of 591,886 which constitutes 1.29% of the population of Spain, with the population density numbering 106.8 people per kilometre. The average life expectancy for male inhabitants is 75 years; for female inhabitants, it is 83 years. Eight years later in 2017 the population has fallen...

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Castile and León Geography

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Asturias

Asturias (/æˈstʊəriəs, ə-/, Spanish: [asˈtuɾjas]; Asturian: Asturies [asˈtuɾjes; -ɾjɪs]), officially the Principality of Asturias (Spanish: Principado de Asturias; Asturian: Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: Principao d'Asturias), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the province of Asturias and contains some of the territory that was part of the larger Kingdom of Asturias in...

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Cantabria History

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Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands (/ˌbæliˈærɪk/ BAL-ee-ARR-ik or /bəˈlɪərɪk/ bə-LEER-ik; Catalan: Illes Balears [ˈiʎəz bəleˈas]; Spanish: Islas Baleares [ˈizlaz βaleˈaɾes]) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is Palma. The 2007 Statute of Autonomy designates the...

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Balearic Islands Climate

Located in the west of the Mediterranean Sea, the Balearic Islands have mostly typical hot-summer Mediterranean climates (Köppen: Csa) with some high altitude areas having a Warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb) in the island of Majorca. The semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSh and BSk) is also found in the Balearic Islands, mostly on the islands of...

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Basque Country

The Basque Country (/bæsk, bɑːsk/; Basque: Euskadi [eus̺kadi]; Spanish: País Vasco [paˈiz ˈβasko]), also called Basque Autonomous Community (Basque: Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, EAE; Spanish: Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It includes the provinces (and historical territories) of Álava, Biscay, and Gipuzkoa, located in the north of the Iberian...

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Castile and León Languages

Spanish is the only official and preponderant language throughout the territory. A large part of the "Route of the Castilian language" passes through the autonomous community, which indicates the importance traditionally attributed to this land in the origin and subsequent development of that language. In the province of Burgos begins its journey, due both to...

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Basque Country

The Basque Country (/bæsk, bɑːsk/; Basque: Euskadi [eus̺kadi]; Spanish: País Vasco [paˈiz ˈβasko]), also called Basque Autonomous Community (Basque: Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, EAE; Spanish: Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It includes the provinces (and historical territories) of Álava, Biscay, and Gipuzkoa, located in the north of the Iberian...

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Balearic Islands History

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Cantabria Territorial organization

The autonomous community of Cantabria is structured in municipios (municipalities) and comarcas (regions).

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Canary Islands

The Canary Islands (/kəˈnɛəri/; Spanish: Canarias, pronounced [kaˈnaɾjas]), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of Morocco. They are the southernmost of the autonomous communities of Spain. The...

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Castile and León Administration and politics

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Cantabria

Cantabria (/kænˈteɪbriə/, also UK: /-ˈtæb-/, Spanish: [kanˈtaβɾja], Cantabrian: Asturian: [kanˈtaβɾja]) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a comunidad histórica, a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east by the Basque autonomous community (province of Biscay), on the south...

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Canary Islands Transport

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Castile and León

Castile and León (Spanish: Castilla y León [kasˈtiʎa i leˈon] (listen); Leonese: Castiella y Llión [kasˈtjeʎa i ʎiˈoŋ]; Galician: Castela e León [kasˈtɛlɐ ɪ leˈoŋ]) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the provinces of the historic...

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Castile and León Culture

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Castile and León Transportation

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Castilla–La Mancha

Castilla–La Mancha (UK: /kæˌstiːjə læ ˈmæntʃə/, US: /- lɑː ˈmɑːntʃə/, Spanish: [kasˈtiʎa la ˈmantʃa], or Castile La Mancha, is an autonomous community of Spain. Comprising the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo, it was created in 1982. The government headquarters are in Toledo, and its largest city is in Albacete. The region...

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Castilla–La Mancha

Castilla–La Mancha (UK: /kæˌstiːjə læ ˈmæntʃə/, US: /- lɑː ˈmɑːntʃə/, Spanish: [kasˈtiʎa la ˈmantʃa] ), or Castile La Mancha, is an autonomous community of Spain. Comprising the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo, it was created in 1982. The government headquarters are in Toledo. The region largely occupies the southern half of...

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Catalonia

Catalonia (/ˌkætəˈloʊniə/; Catalan: Catalunya [kətəˈluɲə, kataˈluɲa]; Aranese Occitan: Catalonha [kataˈluɲa]; Spanish: Cataluña [kataˈluɲa]) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, to the south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Catalonia is administratively...

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Community of Madrid

The Community of Madrid (English: /məˈdrɪd/; Spanish: Comunidad de Madrid Spanish pronunciation: [komuniˈðað ðe maˈðɾið]  is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (Meseta Central). Its capital and largest municipality is the City of Madrid, which is also the...

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Extremadura

Extremadura (Spanish: [e(k)stɾemaˈðuɾa]; Extremaduran: Estremaúra; Portuguese: Estremadura; Fala: Extremaúra) is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it is crossed from east to west by the Tagus and Guadiana rivers. The autonomous community is formed by the two largest provinces of Spain: Cáceres...

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Notable Cantabrians

Cantabria has been the birthplace of exceptional and notable individuals in fields such as literature, arts, sciences, etc. Many of them have played a decisive role, not only in the history and events of the region, but also on the national and international levels. These include: Business: Jesús de Polanco, Emilio Botín, Ana Patricia Botin,...

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Galicia

Galicia (/ɡəˈlɪʃ(i)ə/; Galician: Galicia [ɡaˈliθjɐ] or Galiza [ɡaˈliθɐ];[a] Spanish: Galicia; Portuguese: Galiza) is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra. Galicia is located in Atlantic Europe. It is bordered by Portugal to the south,...

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La Rioja

La Rioja (Spanish: [la ˈrjoxa]) is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and Nájera. It has an estimated population of 315,675 inhabitants (INE 2018), making it...

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Navarre

Navarre (English: /nəˈvɑːr/; Spanish: Navarra [naˈβara]; Basque: Nafarroa [nafaro.a]), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre (Spanish: Comunidad Foral de Navarra [komuniˈðað foˈɾal de naˈβara]; Basque: Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea [nafaro.ako foɾu komunitate.a]), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Nouvelle-Aquitaine in...

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Region of Murcia

The Region of Murcia (/ˈmʊərsiə/, US also /ˈmɜːrʃ(i)ə/; Spanish: Región de Murcia [reˈxjon de ˈmuɾθja]), is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean coast. The region is 11,313 km2 (4,368 sq mi) in area and had a population of 1,511,251 as at the start of...

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Valencian Community

The Valencian Community (Valencian: Comunitat Valenciana and also País Valencià, Spanish: Comunidad Valenciana and also País Valenciano) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and Madrid with more than five million inhabitants. Its homonymous capital Valencia is the third largest city and metropolitan area...

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