provincial administration

   Spain's provinces were first established as entities of local administration in 1833. Until the new decentralized structure of the state was ushered in during the early 1980s, the country had fifty provinces, but following the creation of six single province autonomous communities, this number was reduced to forty-four. For national and regional elections, the province is the normal constituency.

   Article 141.1 of the constitution states: "The province is a local entity with its own legal status, consisting of a group of municipalities and representing a territorial division designed to carry out the activities of the state". Thus, on the one hand, it clearly has a local function, and one of its major roles, via the diputaciones provinciales (provincial councils), is to provide a range of services not available to the smaller municipal authorities within its ambit. On the other hand, through the civil governor, appointed directly by the central government, the provinces continue to administer some functions traditionally delegated to them by Madrid. However, as the state has progressively devolved power to the autonomous communities, the latter function has tended to diminish in importance; provincial offices of regional ministries are now assuming more importance than those of central ministries. The funding for the regional offices comes from regional government while that for the other two areas of responsibility comes from central government.

   The basic institutions of the diputación provincial are the full council (pleno) and the commission, the executive arm of the council. Each is headed by the president. The pleno is made up of provincial deputies who are normally elected indirectly from the councillors elected at the municipal elections. Seats are allocated according to a modified system of proportional representation. The president, usually the leader of the majority party, is elected at the first meeting of the council. The normal term of office for the president and deputies is four years. The councils have no authority to draft major laws, only to implement those approved by national and regional parliaments. However, they can draft regulations (ordenanzas) which must conform to national/regional law. Among the main functions of the full councils are: to control and oversee the work of the commission; to approve annually a provincial plan for works and services in the municipalities; and to approve the annual budget drafted by the commission. According to the law of 1985, among the major responsibilities of the diputación are: to co-ordinate municipal services; to give legal, economic and technical assistance to the municipalities, particularly those of limited resources; and to provide province-wide services such as roads and bridges.

   No post-Franco government has adequately tackled the problem of the serious duplication of administrative responsibilities at provincial level.

   See also: elections; municipalities

   Further reading

   - Newton, M.T with Donaghy, P.J. (1997) Institutions of Modern Spain, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (chapter 8.4 deals with most aspects of provincial administration).

   - Solé-Vilanovas, J (1989) "Spain: Regional and Local Government" in R.J.Bennett (ed.) Territory and Administration in Europe, London: Pinter, pp. 205–29

   MICHAEL T. NEWTON