Autonomous community

Galicia Asturias Cantabria Basque Country Navarra La Rioja Aragon Catalonia CommunityValenciana Region of Murcia Andalusia Extremadura Castilla-La Mancha Castillay León Community of Madrid Ceuta Melilla Islands Canary Islands Portugal Andorra France Gibraltar (United Kingdom) Morocco Cantabrian Sea Mediterranean Sea Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean

Autonomous Communities of Spain

In Spain, an autonomous community (C.A.) is a territorial entity that, within the current Spanish constitutional legal system, is endowed with autonomy, with its own institutions and representatives and certain legislative, executive and administrative powers, which in many aspects assimilates it to federated entities, therefore it could be said that Spain is quasi-federal.

History

The promulgation of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, which includes "the right to autonomy of the nationalities and regions" that make up the State, represented a 180 degree change with respect to the previous regime, the Franco dictatorship, which was based in traditional centralized plans. The 1978 Constitution thus responded to a problem that had arisen repeatedly in the history of Spain as a result of the different identities on which the unity of Spain has been built.^{[citation required]}

After the ratification of the magna carta, and as a result of the implementation of the principles contained in Title VIII, between 1979 and 1983 the process of establishing the 16 autonomous communities and the foral community was completed, through the approval of their Statutes of Autonomy, although only four of them —Catalonia, the Basque Country, Galicia and Andalusia— have been endorsed by their citizens. They have also been endowed with their own governing body and representative institutions. It should be noted that the process offered by the Spanish Constitution does not bind either the regions or the nationalities, but is, in theory, a right for them. However, in practice, the autonomous pacts forced the provinces to form autonomous communities. In fact, serve as an example that, in March 1983, the only province that was not part of any community, Segovia, was forced by government decree to integrate into Castilla y León "for reasons of national interest".^{[ citation required]}

On July 31, 1981, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, President of the Government, and Felipe González, leader of the opposition, agree on the first autonomous pacts, which provide for a map of 17 autonomies, with the same institutions but with different powers. In 1995, it was updated with the Second Autonomous Pacts, signed between the then president, Felipe González, and the opposition leader, José María Aznar, by which the two autonomous cities, Ceuta and Melilla, were created. As a result of these agreements, in 1995 the "map of the autonomies" will be considered closed to new remodeling or extensions.

Since 2003, and for statistical purposes, based on European regulations and established by Eurostat, there are the NUTS units in force in the European Union. The 17 Spanish autonomous communities are classified at NUTS 2 levels.

Basic organization of the regional administration

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Provinces of Spain identified according to standard ISO 3166-2

Article 152.1 of the Constitution establishes the basic institutional organization of those autonomous communities that acceded to autonomy by the so-called "fast track", that is, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia and Andalusia. However, said basic institutional organization has been the one that, through their respective Statutes of Autonomy, has been assumed by all the autonomous communities, regardless of their path of access to political autonomy.

Thus, at present, the basic bodies common to all the autonomous communities are a Legislative Assembly, elected by universal suffrage; a Governing Council, with executive functions; and a president of the autonomous community, elected by the Legislative Assembly from among its members, who holds the highest representation of the Community.

The Legislative Assembly

The assembly is the unicameral autonomous parliament, which in the different communities is called in different ways:

• Parliament: Andalusia, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Catalonia, Galicia, Balearic Islands, La Rioja, Navarra and Basque Country.
• Courts: Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, and Comunidad Valenciana.
• Assembly: Extremadura, Community of Madrid, Ceuta, Melilla and Region of Murcia.
• General Board: Asturias.

Election

The system for electing members is by universal suffrage, following the same system of incompatibility and ineligibility as the Cortes Generales. Elections are held on the last Sunday of May every four years, in all communities except:

• Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Catalonia, Galicia, the Basque Country, the Valencian Community and Castile and Leon can dissolve the parliament and call elections when it seems appropriate to the respective autonomous president whenever it is before the end of his legislature.
• Navarre, the Principality of Asturias and Aragón do celebrate them on the fourth Sunday of May every four years, although after the reform of their statutes, and the Furniture of the jurisdiction in the Navarre case, the president of each autonomous community can dissolve the courts and summon elections as appropriate, provided that it is before the end of his legislature.

Functions

The autonomous communities enjoy legislative power, which resides in their assembly. In addition to other functions: budgetary, control of the regional executive, election of the government, of the president of the executive, participation in the reforms of the Constitution, control of the constitutionality of Laws and provisions with the force of Law, participation in the composition of the Senate.

Executive Branch

Flags of the 19 autonomys of Spain, along with the flags of Spain and the European Union, on the facade of the Senate Palace in Madrid

The President

Appointment

Once the elections have been held and the legislative assembly has been constituted, in the autonomous communities where only one candidate is possible to preside over it, the president of the autonomous parliament proposes it. The proposed candidate is elected if he is supported by an absolute majority in the first ballot or in the second by a simple majority. In the autonomous communities, several candidates are possible, these are proposed by the parliamentary groups and those who obtain an absolute majority are elected in the first vote. If an absolute majority is not obtained, the candidate who obtains a simple majority in a second vote will be elected, in which all the candidates in the Basque Country participate and only the two most voted in Asturias.

If support is not obtained, the votes will be repeated with different candidacies, until after 2 months from the first vote none of the candidates has obtained support, the chamber will be dissolved, and elections will be called again.

Functions

Direction of the government council and supreme representation of the Community, representation of the State in the autonomous community. Promulgates and orders the publication of Laws and the appointment of the judiciary in the community.

The Governing Council

It is the highest collegiate executive body of the Autonomous Community. Its functions are civil administration, law enforcement and regulation. The members respond to the Superior Court of Justice, both in civil and criminal matters. They are subject to political control through the question of confidence and the motion of censure. It is chaired by the president of the Autonomous Community, who appoints and dismisses its members.

Other Organs

The Communities can create their own Courts of Accounts, Ombudsmen (in Aragon it is the figure of the Justice of Aragon who fulfills this duty in addition to being the third authority together with the president of the General Deputation of Aragon and the president of the Courts of Aragon) and other organizations for its proper functioning.

Competences and funding

Articles 148 and 149 of the Spanish Constitution list the potential "competences" of the autonomous communities, as well as the areas that the central government maintains as exclusive or shared "competences". » in education, health system, culture and language, heritage, social assistance, land use planning and urban planning, environmental protection, public transport, agriculture, etc. The powers transferred depend on the statutes of autonomy and can vary considerably; for example, the Basque Country and Navarra have more extensive fiscal power and autonomy, while the basic services of the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla are generally provided by the central government, due to their location and circumstances.

The autonomous communities under the common regime (all the Autonomous Communities except the Basque Country and Navarra, which have a foral regime) share tax management with the central government, for example by collecting their own estate and inheritance taxes, collecting a part of the income tax (IRPF), while 50% of the funds generated by VAT and the special tax on alcohol are transferred to the CC. AA. by the central government. The territorial division of Spain is based on the principle of equity, since there are measures to guarantee a similar level of financing for the public services of the different communities, despite the economic differences between the CCs. AA.

Index of Autonomous Communities and Cities

Flag	Shield	Community Autonomous	Provinces	Provincial capital	Capital of the Autonomous Community	Statute of Autonomy	Location
		Andalusia	AlmeríaAlmería	Almería	Sevilla	2007 (substitution of the previous Statute, 1981)
			CadizCadiz	Cadiz
			CórdobaCórdoba	Córdoba
			GrenadaGrenada	Grenada
			HuelvaHuelva	Huelva
			JaénJaén	Jaén
			MalagaMalaga	Malaga
			SevillaSevilla	Sevilla
		Aragon	HuescaHuesca	Huesca	Zaragoza	1982 (reformed in 1994, 1996 and 2007)
			TeruelTeruel	Teruel
			ZaragozaZaragoza	Zaragoza
		Principality of Asturias	AsturiasAsturias	Oviedo		1981 (reformed in 1991, 1994 and 1999)
		Balearic Islands	Balearic IslandsBalearic Islands	Palma		2007 (substitution of the previous Statute, 1983)
		Canary Islands	Las PalmasLas Palmas	Las Palmas de Gran Canaria	Shared capital	1982 (reformed in 1996)
			Santa Cruz de TenerifeSanta Cruz de Tenerife	Santa Cruz de Tenerife
		Cantabria	CantabriaCantabria	Santander		1981 (reformed in 1991, 1994, 1997, 1998 and 2002)
		Castilla-La Mancha	AlbaceteAlbacete	Albacete	Undeclared (de facto, Toledo)	1982 (reformed in 1991, 1994, 1997 and 2002)
			Ciudad RealCiudad Real	Ciudad Real
			CuencaCuenca	Cuenca
			GuadalajaraGuadalajara	Guadalajara
			ToledoToledo	Toledo
		Castilla y León	Avila	Avila	Undeclared (de facto, Valladolid)	1983 (not endorsed, reformed in 1988, 1994, 1999 and 2007)
			BurgosBurgos	Burgos
			LeónLeón	León
			PalenciaPalencia	Palencia
			SalamancaSalamanca	Salamanca
			SegoviaSegovia	Segovia
			SoriaSoria	Soria
			ValladolidValladolid	Valladolid
			ZamoraZamora	Zamora
		Catalonia	BarcelonaBarcelona	Barcelona	Barcelona	2006 (in replacement of the previous Statute, 1979)
			GeronaGerona	Gerona
			LéridaLérida	Lérida
			TarragonaTarragona	Tarragona
		Valencian Community	AlicanteAlicante	Alicante	Valencia	2006 (in replacement of the previous Statute, 1982)
			CastellónCastellón	Castellón de la Plana
			ValenciaValencia	Valencia
		Extremadura	BadajozBadajoz	Badajoz	Mérida (Badajoz)	1983 (reformed in 1991, 1994, 1999, 2002 and 2011)
			CáceresCáceres	Cáceres
		Galicia	The CoruñaThe Coruña	The Coruña	Santiago de Compostela (La Coruña)	1981
			LugoLugo	Lugo
			OrenseOrense	Orense
			PontevedraPontevedra	Pontevedra
		La Rioja	La RiojaLa Rioja	Logroño		1982
		Community of Madrid	MadridMadrid	Madrid		1983
		Region of Murcia	Region of MurciaRegion of Murcia	Murcia		1982
		Community of Navarre	NavarraNavarra	Pamplona		1982
		Basque Country	ÁlavaÁlava	Vitoria	Not declared (de factoVitoria)	1979
			GuipuzcoaGuipuzcoa	San Sebastián
			VizcayaVizcaya	Bilbao
Flag	Shield	Autonomous city				Statute of Autonomy	Location
		Ceuta				1995
		Melilla				1995

Communities by area and population

These tables include the surface and population data (data from the municipal register of inhabitants, INE as of January 1, 2021) of the autonomous communities.

Community or autonomous city Surface (km2) Percentage 1 Castilla y LeónCastilla y León 94 226 18.6 % 2 AndalusiaAndalusia 87 268 17.2% 3 Castilla-La ManchaCastilla-La Mancha 79 463 15.7 % 4 AragonAragon 47 719 9.4% 5 ExtremaduraExtremadura 41 635 8.2 % 6 CataloniaCatalonia 32 107 6.3 % 7 GaliciaGalicia 29 574 5.8 % 8 Valencian CommunityValencian Community 23 255 4.6% 9 Region of MurciaRegion of Murcia 11 313 2.9% 10 Principality of AsturiasPrincipality of Asturias 10 604 2.1 % 11 Community of NavarreCommunity of Navarre 10 391 2.0% 12 Community of MadridCommunity of Madrid 8022 1.6 % 13 Canary Islands 7447 1.5 % 14 Basque CountryBasque Country 7234 1.4 % 15 CantabriaCantabria 5326 1.0 % 16 La RiojaLa Rioja 5045 1.0 % 17 Balearic IslandsBalearic Islands 4992 1.0 % 18 CeutaCeuta 19 0.0% 19 MelillaMelilla 12 0.0% TOTAL 504 645 100%

Community or autonomous city Population (hab.) Percentage Density (hab/km2) 1 AndalusiaAndalusia 8 500 808 17.9% 96.63 2 CataloniaCatalonia 7 660 530 16.22% 242,28 3 Community of MadridCommunity of Madrid 6 736 407 13.97 per cent 811.17 4 Valencian CommunityValencian Community 5 051 250 10.61% 217,47 5 GaliciaGalicia 2 691 213 5.82% 91.58 6 Castilla y LeónCastilla y León 2 379 530 5.21% 25,42 7 Canary Islands 2 246 370 4.51% 292,19 8 Basque CountryBasque Country 2 177 654 4.71% 303,31 9 Castilla-La ManchaCastilla-La Mancha 2 047 722 4.5 per cent 25,74 10 Region of MurciaRegion of Murcia 1 516 055 3.16% 133.57 11 AragonAragon 1 313 465 2.83 per cent 27,43 12 Balearic IslandsBalearic Islands 1 219 404 2.40% 234,68 13 ExtremaduraExtremadura 1 054 779 2.32% 25.3 14 Principality of AsturiasPrincipality of Asturias 1 004 499 2.2% 95.42 15 Community of NavarreCommunity of Navarre 656 836 1.38% 63.62 16 CantabriaCantabria 583 684 1.25% 109.55 17 La RiojaLa Rioja 315 811 0.68% 63.41 18 MelillaMelilla 83 489 0.18% 6958.05 19 CeutaCeuta 82 787 0.18% 4592.38 TOTAL 46 698 569 100% 92.29

Economy and GDP

European Regional Development Fund for the period 2007-2013. Regions in convergence. Regions in progressive decline. Regions in progressive increase. Competitive regions and job generators.

The following is the list of Spanish autonomous communities ordered by per capita income (2018). It is of great importance to know the per capita income of an autonomous community, since the amount of European funds that a region receives depends on it. The "less developed" regions, whose GDP per capita is less than 75% of the EU average, remain the main priority of Cohesion Policy (Objective 1). Regions "in transition", whose GDP per capita is between 75% and 90% of the EU average, will be Objective 2. In the case of Spain, in 2010 only Extremadura was in this situation.

List of Autonomous Communities per capita GDP (2018)

Gross Domestic Product (2018)

# Name GDP per capita Spain = 100% 1 Community of MadridCommunity of Madrid 35 041 € 136.2 % 2 Basque CountryBasque Country 33 223 € 129.1 % 3 NavarraNavarra 31 389 € 122.0 % European Union 30 960 € 120.3 % 4 CataloniaCatalonia 30 426 € 118.3 % 5 AragonAragon 28 151 € 109.4 % 6 Balearic IslandsBalearic Islands 27 682 € 107.6 % 7 La RiojaLa Rioja 27 225 € 105.8 per cent SpainSpain 25 727 € 100.0% 8 Castilla y LeónCastilla y León 24 031 € 93.4 % 9 CantabriaCantabria 23 757 € 92.3 % 10 GaliciaGalicia 23 183 € 90.1 % 11 Principality of AsturiasPrincipality of Asturias 22 789 € 88.6 % 12 Valencian CommunityValencian Community 22 426 € 87.2 % 13 Region of MurciaRegion of Murcia 21 269 € 82.7 % 14 Canary Islands 20 892 € 81.2 % 15 Castilla-La ManchaCastilla-La Mancha 20 363 € 79.2 % 16 CeutaCeuta 20 € 78.2 % 17 AndalusiaAndalusia 19 107 € 74.3 % 18 ExtremaduraExtremadura 18 769 € 72.9 % 19 MelillaMelilla 18 533 € 72.0 %

# Name GDP (nominal) million € % 1 Community of MadridCommunity of Madrid 230 795 19.2 % 2 CataloniaCatalonia 228 682 19 % 3 AndalusiaAndalusia 160 622 13.4% 4 Valencian CommunityValencian Community 110 979 9.2% 5 Basque CountryBasque Country 72 170 6 % 6 GaliciaGalicia 62 570 5.2 % 7 Castilla y LeónCastilla y León 57 926 4.8% 8 Canary IslandsCanary Islands 45 720 % 9 Castilla-La ManchaCastilla-La Mancha 41 345 3.4 % 10 AragonAragon 37 038 3.1 % 11 Balearic IslandsBalearic Islands 32 542 2.7% 12 Region of MurciaRegion of Murcia 31 458 2.6% 13 Principality of AsturiasPrincipality of Asturias 23 340 1.9 % 14 NavarraNavarra 20 282 1.7 % 15 ExtremaduraExtremadura 20 028 1.7 % 16 CantabriaCantabria 13 801 1.1 % 17 La RiojaLa Rioja 8513 0.7 % 18 CeutaCeuta 1709 0.1 % 19 MelillaMelilla 1568 0.1 % Extra-regio 1103 0.1 % Total 1 202 193 100%

Budgets and income distribution

The implementation of the autonomous communities determined the need to create a financing system that guaranteed obtaining the necessary resources to exercise the powers that these new territorial administrations were assuming. The 1978 Constitution determined the basic aspects of regional financing in its articles 156 to 158. They establish these principles:

• Financial autonomy, which implies the freedom of the Communities to decide on their expenses and income, although not in absolute form, but in relation to other principles.
• Solidarity, as an appropriate and fair economic balance between the various parts of the territory.
• Equality, in order to prevent differences between Statutes from involving economic or social privileges.
• Coordination with the State Treasury, as a guarantee of the efficiency of the functioning of the entire Autonomous State.

However, these common principles do not determine the existence of a single model. On the contrary, the recognition of historical rights by the Constitution (First Additional Provision) resulted in a system of Agreement and Agreement applicable exclusively to the chartered territories of Navarre and the Basque Country, while the rest of the Communities are governed by the common regime, the bases of which are established in Organic Law 8/1980, of September 22, on Financing of the Autonomous Communities (LOFCA).

Foral regime

The Statute of Autonomy for the Basque Country came to recognize the Economic Agreement regime for the financing of its historical territories (Álava, Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya) configuring its own and characteristic system. The first Economic Agreement was approved by Law 12/1981, of May 13 and its validity was extended until December 31, 2001. Law 12/2002, of May 23, approved, indefinitely, the Economic Agreement in force, establishing that every five years a law of methodology of the five-year quota will be approved.

The distribution of income by autonomous community shows paradoxical data. The Community of Madrid, which is one of the largest in terms of GDP, is the worst stop if we divide the budgets of the Community by the number of inhabitants, what we call income per person. Ordered from highest to lowest, the differences between the "rich communities and the "poor communities are practically 100%. In the first place we have Navarra, with €6,255 per person; in second place, the Basque Country, with €5,054 per person; In front of them, Melilla is the red lantern, with €3,014 per person; the autonomous city of Ceuta has €3 per person, and the Community of Madrid, paradoxically one of the countries with the highest GDP in Spain, barely has €3,110 per person.

Autonomous communities and cities Per capita income
#	CCAA	Income (2017)	Ingr./pers. (2017)
1	NavarraNavarra	4 005 305	6255€
2	Basque CountryBasque Country	10 952 490	5054€
3	ExtremaduraExtremadura	4 598 370	4268€
4	CantabriaCantabria	2 465 473	4240€
5	La RiojaLa Rioja	1 322 628	4231€
6	CataloniaCatalonia	29 449 783	3958€
7	Principality of AsturiasPrincipality of Asturias	3 921 178	3791€
8	GaliciaGalicia	10 257 010	3785€
9	Castilla-La ManchaCastilla-La Mancha	7 564 497	3706€
10	Balearic IslandsBalearic Islands	4 240 897	3685€
11	Castilla y LeónCastilla y León	8 788 430	3608€
12	AragonAragon	4 687 268	3562€
13	Valencian CommunityValencian Community	17 354 885	3517€
14	Canary Islands	7 264 829	3371€
15	Region of MurciaRegion of Murcia	4 916 213	3338€
16	AndalusiaAndalusia	27 037 781	3215€
17	CeutaCeuta	266 616	3138€
18	Community of MadridCommunity of Madrid	20 139 609	3110€
19	MelillaMelilla	259 582	3014€
♪ source: Datamacro, 2018. In thousands of euros.

Presidents of the autonomous communities and cities

Map of the Autonomous Communities and Cities of Spain and the party of the President or President of each of them PSOE P ERC PNV PRC Independent

The seventeen presidents and the two current regional mayors-presidents of Spain are:

• In bold: current mandate

Community Autonomous	Government	Image	Chairman Title	Training political policy		Mandates	Government
AndalusiaAndalusia	Junta de Andalucía		Juan Manuel Moreno President of the Junta de Andalucía		P	2018-2022 2022-Update	P
							Majority
AragonAragon	Government of Aragon		Javier Lambán President of the Government of Aragon		PSOE	2015-2019 2019-News	PSOE-Aragon We can- CHA PAR
							Majority, adding to IUA
Principality of AsturiasPrincipality of Asturias	Governing Council of the Principality of Asturias		Adrian Barbon Chairman of the Principality of Asturias		PSOE	2019-News	FSA-PSOE
							In minority
Balearic IslandsBalearic Islands	Government of the Balearic Islands		Francina Armengol President of the Balearic Islands		PSOE	2015-2019 2019-News	PSIB-PSOE United Nations Més per Mallorca
							Majority, adding to MxMe and GxF
Canary Islands	Government of the Canary Islands		Angel Victor Torres President of the Canary Islands		PSOE	2019-News	PSOE NCa We can. ASG
							Majority
CantabriaCantabria	Government of Cantabria		Miguel Angel Revilla President of Cantabria		PRC	2003-2007 2007-2011 2015-2019 2019- Current	PRC PSOE
							Majority
Castilla-La ManchaCastilla-La Mancha	Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha		Emiliano García-Page President of the Board of Communities of Castilla-La Mancha		PSOE	2015-2019 2019-News	PSCLM-PSOE
							Majority
Castilla y LeónCastilla y León	Junta de Castilla y León		Alfonso Fernández Mañueco President of the Board of Castile and Leon		P	2019-2022 2022-Update	P VOX
							Majority
CataloniaCatalonia	Generality of Catalonia		Pere Aragonès President of the Generality of Catalonia		ERC	2020-2021 2021- Current	ERC
							In minority
Ceuta	Council of Government of Ceuta		Juan Jesús Vivas President of the Autonomous City of Ceuta		P	2001-2003 2003-2007 2007-2011 2011-2015 2015-2019 2019- Current	P
							In minority
Valencian CommunityValencian Community	Generalidad Valenciana		Ximo Puig President of the Valencian General		PSOE	2015-2019 2019-News	PSPV-PSOE Commitments United Nations
							Majority
ExtremaduraExtremadura	Extremadura Board		Guillermo Fernández Vara Chairman of the Board of Extremadura		PSOE	2007-2011 2015-2019 2019- Current	E PSOE
							Majority
GaliciaGalicia	Junta de Galicia		Alfonso Rueda President of the Board of Galicia		P	2022-Update	P
							Majority
La RiojaLa Rioja	Government of La Rioja		Concha Andreu President of La Rioja		PSOE	2019-News	PSOE We can.
							Majority, adding to IU
Community of MadridCommunity of Madrid	Government of the Community of Madrid		Isabel Díaz Ayuso President of the Community of Madrid		P	2019-2021 2021-Update	P
							Majority, adding to Vox
MelillaMelilla	Council of Government of Melilla		Eduardo de Castro President of the Autonomous City of Melilla		Independent	2019-News	CpM PSOE
							Majority
Region of MurciaRegion of Murcia	Government of the Region of Murcia		Fernando López Miras President of the Region of Murcia		P	2017-2019 2019-News	P
							In minority, adding Vox
NavarraNavarra	Government of Navarra		María Chivite President of the Government of Navarra		PSOE	2019-News	PSN-PSOE Geroa Bai We can.
							In minority, adding to Izquierda-Ezkerra
Basque CountryBasque Country	Basque Government		Iñigo Urkullu President of the Basque Government		EAJ-PNV	2012-2016 2016-2020 2020-Update	EAJ-PNV PSE-EE
							Majority