Editing Local government (section)

===Spain===
{{Main article|Local government in Spain|Municipalities of Spain|Comarcas of Spain}}
Spain is divided into 17 [[autonomous communities of Spain|autonomous communities]], which in turn are divided into 50 [[provinces of Spain|provinces]]. There are also two [[autonomous cities of Spain|autonomous cities]]: those of [[Ceuta]] and [[Melilla]]. Finally, each province comprises a number of municipalities.

Each administrative entity is given powers, structure, and boundaries by a law that was passed by the [[Prime Minister of Spain|Prime Minister]] .

Law 7/1985,<ref>[http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/l7-1985.html Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local]. Noticias.juridicas.com. Retrieved on 2 December 2012.</ref> passed by the former Spanish Prime Minister [[Felipe González Márquez]] (socialist), lays down the procedure of the Local Government. Every city in Spain used this Law until 2003. This year, the former Spanish Prime Minister [[José María Aznar]] (conservative), passed a Law (57/2003)<ref>[http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/l57-2003.html Ley 57/2003, de 16 de diciembre, de medidas para la modernización del gobierno local]. Noticias.juridicas.com. Retrieved on 2 December 2012.</ref> to modernize organic rules of those cities which had more than 250,000 inhabitants, and other important cities (like capital cities of provinces with at least 175,000 inhabitants). Also, it exists two other important Laws for specifically Madrid (Law 22/2006)<ref>[http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/l22-2006.html Ley 22/2006, de 4 de julio, de Capitalidad y de Régimen Especial de Madrid]. Noticias.juridicas.com. Retrieved on 2 December 2012.</ref> and Barcelona (Law 1/2006).<ref>[http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/l1-2006.html Ley 1/2006, de 13 de marzo, por la que se regula el Régimen Especial del municipio de Barcelona]. Noticias.juridicas.com. Retrieved on 2 December 2012.</ref> The main governing body in most municipalities is called Ayuntamiento (in the less populated municipalities an alternative local organization system called open council, "''concejo abierto''", is used). The Ayuntamiento in turn is formed by the Plenary (''el Pleno'', the collective formed by the city councillors) and the Mayor. The number of members that compose The Plenary varies depending on city's population (for example, since 2007 Valencia has 33 members and Pamplona has 27). The name given to the members of the Plenary is councillor (''concejal''). Those councillors are elected between city's inhabitants every four years by direct vote. After being elected, councillors meet in a special Plenary session to determine who will be elected, between them, as city's Mayor. In the next days after the election, the mayor chooses some councillors to set up the executive governing body (''Junta de Gobierno'' or ''Comisión de Gobierno''). After that, and for the next four years, city's mayor and the ''Junta de Gobierno'' will govern over the city according to their competences (urbanism, some taxes, local police, licenses for specific activities, cleaning services, etc.). Meanwhile, councillors in the Plenary but not part of the ''Junta de Gobierno'' (the opposition) will oversee Mayor's rule.
The autonomous community of Catalonia is divided in 4 provinces and more than 900 municipalities. Between these two tiers, there are 41 ''comarques'' (singular, ''comarca''), roughly equivalent to 'district' or 'county'. The ''comarca'' is a commonwealth, or union, of municipalities with competences in several fields (Law 6/1987 of the Parliament of Catalonia).