Municipal Rights, Obligations, and Inter-Municipal Cooperation
Rights and Obligations of Citizens
Citizens have the following rights and obligations within their municipalities:
- a) To vote and participate in elections in accordance with electoral legislation.
- b) To participate in municipal management as outlined by law.
- c) To use municipal utilities and access communal land, in accordance with regulations.
- d) To contribute, through economic and personal means, to the legal conduct of municipal powers.
- e) To be informed, upon reasoned request, and to directly request from the municipal administration all records related to municipal documentation, in accordance with the provisions of Article 105 of the Constitution.
- f) To request a referendum as provided by law.
- g) To require the provision and, where appropriate, the establishment of related public services, within the scope of its own binding municipal competition.
- h) To participate in neighborhood associations supported by the municipality.
- i) To exercise other rights and fulfill other obligations as established by law.
Districts
Autonomous Communities, in accordance with their respective statutes, may establish districts or other entities comprising several municipalities within their territory. These districts are formed when common interests necessitate specific management or services within that scope.
The initiative for the creation of a district may originate from the interested municipalities themselves. A district cannot be created if two-fifths of the municipalities that should be grouped oppose it, provided that these municipalities represent at least half of the electorate of the territory concerned. When a district includes municipalities from more than one province, a favorable report from the Provincial Councils of those territories is required.
The Laws of the Autonomous Communities will determine the territorial scope of districts, the composition and functioning of their governing bodies (which are representative of the merged municipalities), and their skills and financial resources.
The creation of a district does not entail the loss of a municipality’s competence in providing services.
Regions
Municipalities have the right to associate with others to jointly execute works or services within their competence.
These associations have legal personality and the legal capacity to fulfill their specific purposes. They are governed by their own statutes. These statutes regulate the association’s objectives, competition, government, resources, duration, and other operational aspects.
The approval of the statutes of these associations will be determined by the laws of the regions and must comply with the following rules:
- a) The development of the statutes shall be carried out by the municipal council members promoting the partnership, formed in an assembly.
- b) The relevant Provincial Council or Councils will issue a report on the draft charter.
- c) The full body of all participating municipalities must approve the bylaws.
A similar procedure will be followed for the amendment or withdrawal of these associations.
Municipalities from different regions may be integrated into the same association if permitted by the regulations of the affected regions.
Collaboration to Provide Services
In cases where two or more neighboring municipalities, belonging to the same Autonomous Region, do not have sufficient resources to separately provide local police services, they may associate to fulfill the duties assigned to such police forces.
The collaboration agreement for the provision of services by local police forces dependent on the respective municipalities must respect the conditions determined by the Ministry of Interior and shall have the authority, or that of the corresponding Autonomous Community.