Spain’s Administrative and Political Evolution
Historical Evolution of Political and Administrative Organization in Spain
The Age Prior to the Roman Conquest
The age prior to the Roman conquest was inhabited by various indigenous people. Under Roman rule, a provincial administrative organization was established. The Visigoths maintained the Roman division, but the basic territorial unit became the territorium, to a lesser extent than the former province.
The Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages, the Muslim invasion did away with the state and the administration of the Visigoths. The Muslims held their territory in the provinces, where the provinces became independent kingdoms. Christians created their own political and administrative systems, which are the source of the current regional differentiation. In the Cordillera Cantábrica, the kingdom of Asturias was created. Navarra, Aragon, and the Catalan counties emerged in the Pyrenees. The last two came together and formed the Crown of Aragon, which was extended in the eighteenth century to include the kingdom of Valencia and the Balearic Islands.
The Modern Age
The Catholic Kings met the peninsular territories except for Portugal; the crowns of Castile and Aragon were joined by the marriage of the kings. But this union was only dynastic; each kingdom kept its own political, administrative, and tax structures. Asturias continued with this situation in the 16th and 17th centuries. The unity of the Spanish monarchy was based on a range of rights, government, etc. The 18th century saw the first attempt to steamroll the Bourbons. The primary reason was the war of succession to the Spanish throne. The military victory of Felipe V allowed for the implementation of intense centralization and standardization in the decrees of the New Plant. They suppressed the political and administrative organization of the Crown of Aragon and imposed the Castilian model.
The Contemporary Organization Until 1978
In the 19th century, Javier de Burgos conducted a provincial division. The aim was to end the Bourbon organization and autonomy of the ancient kingdoms. The territory was organized into 49 provinces; in 1927, there were 50 after the Canary Islands were divided into two provinces. The First Republic (1873-1874) organized a federal state project with powers of government regions. The restoration of the monarchy opened a period of intense centralization in the 20th century. The Second Republic declared that Spain was an integral state compatible with the autonomy of municipalities and regions. After the conflict, Franco implanted a unitary state and imposed strict centralization based on the province.
The Current Administrative and Political Organization
Political-Administrative Divisions
- The municipality is the basic territorial unit. The government and local government are under the council, composed of the mayor and council members.
- The province is a territorial local entity formed by a group of municipalities. The government and the provincial administration are under the deputation, composed of a chairman and a deputy.
- The autonomous region is a territorial entity formed by neighboring provinces, territories, and island provinces with historical regional ties.
The State of Autonomy
The process of regional state formation:
a) The autonomic period began shortly after the death of Franco. Adolfo Suárez granted a pre-autonomy regime in Catalonia. While developing the 1978 constitution, a map was formed with 14 pre-autonomies, which coincided almost with the current map.
b) The autonomous period began after the promulgation of the Constitution of 1978. This recognizes and guarantees the right to autonomy of nationalities and regions that comprise it and the solidarity among them. The conditions allowed border provinces, island territories, and provinces with historical regional ties to become autonomous. Article 151 immediately allowed the highest ceiling of competence to be bought. Track section 143 immediately pierced only certain powers.
The autonomy process was different depending on the community:
- Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Galicia attained autonomy by way of Article 151 but benefited from the second transitional provision established by the Constitution.
- Andalucía agreed in the normal way of Article 151.
- Navarra opted for the Improvement of the Charter, which only added to the powers that it already possessed the powers given by way of Article 151.
- The rest of the communities agreed to autonomy through Article 143.
- Ceuta and Melilla received the rank of autonomous municipality and lack of legislative capacity.
The Autonomous State Organization
Has the following features:
a) Each autonomous region is governed by its Statute of Autonomy, approved by the Cortes.
b) Communities may assume competences or functions on scattered subjects set out in the Constitution. These may be exercised exclusively or shared. The skills that communities can take are political, economic, transportation, land use, social and health, cultural, sporting, and leisure.
c) The bodies of an autonomous region are as follows:
- The Legislative Assembly or Autonomous Parliament
- The governing body exercises executive power
- The High Court of Justice
d) The financing of the autonomous communities responds to two models:
- The common communities are financed by their own income and taxes assigned by the state.
- The statutory scheme affects the Basque Country and Navarra, where each of its provinces is funded from tax revenues collected by their own tax authorities.
- The inter-territorial compensation fund is intended to prevent territorial imbalances by providing income to disadvantaged communities.
f) The status of the autonomous territory is based on equality and solidarity.