Editing Barcelona (section)

== Government and administrative divisions ==
{{See also|Municipal elections in Barcelona|List of mayors of Barcelona}}
[[File:Κυβερνητικό Μέγαρο Καταλονίας 2563.jpg|thumb|right| [[Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya]]]]

As the capital of the autonomous community of [[Catalonia]], Barcelona is the seat of the Catalan government, known as the ''[[Generalitat of Catalonia|Generalitat de Catalunya]]''; of particular note are the [[Government of Catalonia|executive branch]], the [[Parliament of Catalonia|parliament]], and the [[High Court of Justice of Catalonia]]. The city is also the capital of the [[Province of Barcelona]] and the [[Barcelonès]] [[Comarques of Catalonia|comarca]] (district).

Barcelona is governed by a city council formed by 41 city councillors, [[Municipal elections in Barcelona|elected]] for a four-year term by [[universal suffrage]]. As one of the two biggest cities in Spain, Barcelona is subject to a special law articulated through the ''Carta Municipal'' (Municipal Law). A first version of this law was passed in 1960 and amended later, but the current version was approved in March 2006.<ref name="ley 1/2006">{{cite web |url=http://www.boe.es/g/es/bases_datos/doc.php?coleccion=iberlex&id=2006/04583 |title=BOE – LEY 1/2006, de 13 de marzo, por la que se regula el Régimen Especial del municipio de Barcelona |publisher=Boe.es |date=14 March 2006 |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430052956/http://www.boe.es/g/es/bases_datos/doc.php?coleccion=iberlex&id=2006%2F04583 |archive-date=30 April 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> According to this law, Barcelona's city council is organized in two levels: a political one, with elected city councillors, and one executive, which administers the programs and executes the decisions taken on the political level.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://w3.bcn.es/V61/Home/V61HomeLinkPl/0,2687,200713899_200720868_1,00.html |title=Ajuntament de Barcelona> Ajuntament> El Govern de la Ciutat |publisher=W3.bcn.es |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100728231233/http://w3.bcn.es/V61/Home/V61HomeLinkPl/0%2C2687%2C200713899_200720868_1%2C00.html |archive-date=28 July 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> This law also gives the local government a special relationship with the central government and it also gives the mayor wider prerogatives by the means of municipal executive commissions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bcn.cat/catala/laciutat/barcelona/organitzacio.htm |title=Ajuntament de Barcelona: Organització política |publisher=Bcn.cat |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723081931/http://www.bcn.cat/catala/laciutat/barcelona/organitzacio.htm |archive-date=23 July 2013}}</ref> It expands the powers of the city council in areas like telecommunications, city traffic, [[road traffic safety|road safety]] and [[public safety]]. It also gives a special economic regime to the city's treasury and it gives the council a veto in matters that will be decided by the central government, but that will need a favourable report from the council.<ref name="ley 1/2006"/>
[[File:Ajuntament de Barcelona (3400686886).jpg|thumb|left|The City Hall of Barcelona]]

The ''Comissió de Govern'' (Government Commission) is the executive branch, formed by 24 councillors, led by the [[List of mayors of Barcelona|Mayor]], with 5 lieutenant-mayors and 17 city councillors, each in charge of an area of government, and 5 non-elected councillors.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://w3.bcn.es/V61/Home/V61HomeLinkPl/0,4358,200713899_200720894_3,00.html |title=Ajuntament de Barcelona> Council> The city government> Council Executive |publisher=W3.bcn.es |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122052303/http://w3.bcn.es/V61/Home/V61HomeLinkPl/0%2C4358%2C200713899_200720894_3%2C00.html |archive-date=22 January 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The plenary, formed by the 41 city councillors, has advisory, planning, regulatory, and fiscal executive functions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://w3.bcn.es/V61/Home/V61HomeLinkPl/0,4358,200713899_200720876_3,00.html |title=Ajuntament de Barcelona> Council> The city government> Plenary |publisher=W3.bcn.es |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415090540/http://w3.bcn.es/V61/Home/V61HomeLinkPl/0%2C4358%2C200713899_200720876_3%2C00.html |archive-date=15 April 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The six ''Commissions del Consell Municipal'' (City council commissions) have executive and controlling functions in the field of their jurisdiction. They are composed by a number of councillors proportional to the number of councillors each political party has in the plenary.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://w3.bcn.es/V61/Home/V61HomeLinkPl/0,4358,200713899_200720890_3,00.html |title=Ajuntament de Barcelona> Council> The city government> Committees of the Municipal Council |publisher=W3.bcn.es |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415090118/http://w3.bcn.es/V61/Home/V61HomeLinkPl/0%2C4358%2C200713899_200720890_3%2C00.html |archive-date=15 April 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The city council has jurisdiction in the fields of [[Urban planning|city planning]], transportation, municipal taxes, public highways security through the ''[[Guàrdia Urbana de Barcelona|Guàrdia Urbana]]'' (the municipal police), city maintenance, [[Parks and gardens of Barcelona|gardens, parks and environment]], facilities (like schools, nurseries, sports centres, libraries, and so on), culture, sports, youth and [[welfare spending|social welfare]]. Some of these competencies are not exclusive, but shared with the Generalitat de Catalunya or the central [[Government of Spain|Spanish government]]. In some fields with shared responsibility (such as public health, education or social services), there is a shared Agency or Consortium between the city and the Generalitat to plan and manage services.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aspb.cat |title=Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona |publisher=www.aspb.cat |access-date=9 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016194852/http://www.aspb.cat/ |archive-date=16 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Salón de Ciento. Ayuntamiento de Barcelona.jpg|thumb|right|The Saló de Cent, in the City Hall of Barcelona]]

The executive branch is led by a Chief Municipal Executive Officer which answers to the Mayor. It is made up of departments which are legally part of the city council and by separate legal entities of two types: autonomous public departments and public enterprises.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://w3.bcn.es/V61/Home/V61HomeLinkPl/0,4358,200713899_200722250_3,00.html |title=Ajuntament de Barcelona> Council> The municipal administration |publisher=W3.bcn.es |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622011903/http://w3.bcn.es/V61/Home/V61HomeLinkPl/0%2C4358%2C200713899_200722250_3%2C00.html |archive-date=22 June 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The seat of the city council is on the Plaça de Sant Jaume, opposite the seat of Generalitat de Catalunya. Since the [[Spanish transition to democracy|coming of the Spanish democracy]], Barcelona [[Municipal elections in Barcelona|had been governed]] by the [[Socialists' Party of Catalonia|PSC]], first with an [[Majority|absolute majority]] and later in coalition with [[Republican Left of Catalonia|ERC]] and [[Initiative for Catalonia Greens|ICV]]. After the May 2007 election, the ERC did not renew the coalition agreement and the PSC governed in a minority coalition with ICV as the junior partner.

After 32 years, on 22 May 2011, [[Convergence and Union|CiU]] gained a plurality of seats at the municipal election, gaining 15 seats to the PSC's 11. The [[People's Party (Spain)|PP]] hold 8 seats, ICV 5 and ERC 2.

=== Districts ===
[[File:Districtes de Barcelona.svg|right|thumb|Districts of Barcelona]]
{{main|Districts of Barcelona}}
{{See also|Street names in Barcelona}}

Since 1987, the city has been divided into 10&nbsp;administrative [[Districts of Barcelona|districts]] (''districtes'' in Catalan, ''distritos'' in Spanish):
*[[Ciutat Vella]]
*[[Eixample]]
*[[Sants-Montjuïc]]
*[[District of Les Corts|Les Corts]]
*[[Sarrià-Sant Gervasi]]
*[[Gràcia]]
*[[Horta-Guinardó]]
*[[Nou Barris]]
*[[Sant Andreu]]
*[[Sant Martí (district)|Sant Martí]]

The districts are based mostly on historical divisions, and several are former towns [[Street names in Barcelona#Municipal aggregations|annexed]] by the city of Barcelona in the 18th and 19th centuries that still maintain their own distinct character. Each district has its own council led by a city councillor. The composition of each district council depends on the number of votes each political party had in that district, so a district can be led by a councillor from a different party than the executive council.