Editing Community of Madrid (section)

=== Administrative divisions ===
[[File:Madrid - Mapa municipal.svg|right|245px|Municipal Map of the Community of Madrid.]]
{{Main|List of municipalities in the Community of Madrid}}
The Community of Madrid, following the long-standing form of [[local government in Spain]], is divided administratively into 179 [[Municipalities of Spain|municipalities]] (featuring 801 towns and entities). Its municipalities comprise 2.2% of the Spanish territory (8,110). It is ranked 23rd amongst Spanish provinces in number of municipalities, which is slightly above average.{{refn|group=n.|In Madrid, the average area of a municipality is {{cvt|44.8|km2}}, slightly larger than the national average. Madrid is by far the largest. Between 1948 and 1954, the city annexed the neighboring municipalities of Chamartín de la Rosa, Fuencarral, Barajas, El Pardo, Hortaleza, Canillas, Canillejas, Vicálvaro, Vallecas, Villaverde, Carabanchel Alto, Carabanchel Baja and Aravaca.

The five largest municipalities by area are: Madrid {{cvt|605.8|km2}}; Aranjuez {{cvt|189.1|km2}}; Colmenar Viejo {{cvt|182.6|km2}}; Rascafría {{cvt|150.3|km2}}; and Manzanares el Real {{cvt|128.4|km2}}.

The smallest municipalities by area are: Casarrubuelos {{cvt|5.3|km2}}; La Serna del Monte {{cvt|5.4|km2}}; Pelayos de la Presa {{cvt|7.6|km2}}; Madarcos {{cvt|8.5|km2}}; and Torrejón de la Calzada {{cvt|9.0|km2}}.}}
The average is 165 municipalities by province. The ''[[ayuntamiento (Spain)|ayuntamiento]]'', presided by its ''alcalde'' (Mayor) is the formal institution charged with the government and administration of most municipalities. The municipal councillors forming the deliberative assembly of the ''ayuntamiento'' are directly elected through [[proportional representation]] with closed party lists and a 5% [[electoral threshold]]. In turn, the councillors are charged with electing from among themselves (by default candidates are the head of each electoral list) the Mayor presiding over the ''ayuntamiento''.

There are twenty [[Judicial districts of Spain|judicial districts]] (''partidos judiciales''), whose seats correspond to the municipalities of  [[Alcalá de Henares]], [[Alcobendas]], [[Alcorcón]], [[Aranjuez]], [[Arganda del Rey]], [[Collado Villalba]], [[Colmenar Viejo]], [[Coslada]], [[Fuenlabrada]], [[Getafe]], [[Leganés]], [[Madrid]], [[Majadahonda]], [[Móstoles]], [[Navalcarnero]], [[Parla]], [[San Lorenzo de El Escorial]], [[Torrejón de Ardoz]], [[Torrelaguna]], [[Valdemoro]], and [[Valdaracete]] (the historical judicial district of San Martín de Valdeiglesias is no longer a judicial district as of 1985). These jurisdictions relate to the judicial administration, with their seat having at least one [[Judiciary of Spain#Courts of first instance|court of first instance]].