Understanding Spanish Administrative Regulation and Territorial Structure

Regulation and Legal Hierarchy

Regulation can be defined as any rule made by the public administration which ranks below the law. This recent formalization is important because the public administration, and particularly the Government, may issue rules to which legal characteristics are attributed.

Characteristics of Regulations

1. The regulations are general provisions and are part of the legal system, unlike administrative acts.
2. The regulations are subordinate to the law. This implies that control over lower-ranking regulations is held by those attributed with control over that activity.
3. The regulations originate from the public administration. They are the result of the exercise by the public administration of regulatory power, which only some administrative organs possess.

Spanish Territorial Organization

Municipality

The Spanish State organizes the territory into municipalities, provinces, and autonomous communities. Municipalities are the most basic territorial and administrative units of the state. The government of a municipality is the responsibility of the municipality and consists of the mayor and councilors who are elected democratically. Municipalities receive sufficient funds through their own taxes and those levied by the state and the autonomous community.

Provinces

The provinces are constituted by the grouping of several municipalities. The provincial division has three basic functions: electoral delimitation of the state, serving as a territorial division of the peripheral administration of the state, and being a local entity superior to municipalities.

Autonomous Communities

The Spanish state has moved from a centralist structure to a decentralized one. The statutes of autonomy collect institutions, rules, and responsibilities for governing each Autonomous Community. The regional powers are fully competent in their self-government institutions.

Regional Powers and Institutions

• They share powers in the management or legislation of regional labor matters.
• An assembly or parliament passes the laws, controls the action of the government, elects the president, and approves budgets.
• The President represents the autonomy, leads the government or governing council, and enforces the laws passed by the parliament.