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Subdivisions of Catalonia

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Catalonia's divisions in 2021 (vegueries, counties and Aran)
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Catalonia, referring to the autonomous community in Spain, is territorially divided into numerous types and levels of subdivisions with varying administrative, organisational and cultural functions.

Vegueries, areas and counties

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Vegueries and areas

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Catalonia's eight vegueries in 2021, plus the autonomous Aran Valley, which is not part of any vegueria
Functional territorial areas of Catalonia in 2016

Vegueries

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Main article: Vegueries of Catalonia

The official first-level regional distribution in Catalonia, configured through the Statute of Autonomy of 2006, is the vegueria (Catalan pronunciation: [bəɣəˈɾi.ə]), owing its name to the feudal jurisdiction of the former Principality of Catalonia.[1][2]

Regulated by the Vegueries Law, approved on 27 July 2010 in Parliament, they aim to form vegueria councils and become a full administrative division,[3] although the law has been ruled unconstitutional by the Spanish Constitutional Court, as it replaces functions performed by Spanish provinces (see below).[4][5] Thus, in practice, despite being official, vegueries are not allowed to carry the administrative powers of the provinces and currently remain only usable for similar territorial deployments to those carried out by the areas, e.g. government services, weather reports, commercial distribution, media coverage, curfew during the COVID-19 pandemic, television frequencies, etc.[4]

There are eight vegueries since 2017. The Aran Valley is not part of any vegueria, as it has been an autonomous region since 2015.[6][7] There are a number of proposals to create a ninth vegueria around the Alt Ter region.[8]

Areas
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Predating the vegueries and for statistical purposes, Catalonia is also divided in "functional territorial areas" (Catalan: àmbits funcionals territorials; Aranese Occitan: encastres foncionaus territoriaus).[9] These were stablished in 1995 by the Catalan General Territorial Plan [ca]. They are largely the same as the vegueries, with mostly identical names, with the main exception being that the Aran Valley is included within Alt Pirineu in the Alt Pirineu i Aran area.[6]

Counties

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Main article: Counties of Catalonia
Counties of Catalonia (plus Aran) in 2023

Catalonia's counties[9] (Catalan: comarques, Catalan pronunciation: [kuˈmarkə]) form the second-level division and are a subdivision of the vegueries.

There are 42 administrative counties since 2023.[9] Aran was a county until 2015, when it formally became an autonomous region, but it is still often included in county lists and maps as one.[7] Each comarca has a representative county council (Catalan: consell comarcal), except for Barcelonès, which abolished it in 2019, and Lluçanès, which, having only been established in 2023, will not have one until the 2027 local elections.[10]

Sub-counties

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Counties often include cultural subdivisions known as sub-counties (Catalan: subcomarques), with no administrative value. Some of these were proposed as new administrative counties in the 2001 Roca report [ca]:

In 2015, Moianès achieved full administrative county status,[11] followed by Lluçanès in 2023.[12]

Spanish provinces

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Main articles: Provinces of Spain and Catalonia § Provinces
The four Spanish provinces that make up Catalonia

The autonomous community of Catalonia is formed from the union of the four Spanish provinces (Catalan and Aranese Occitan: províncies) of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona. These were codified during the 1833 territorial division of Spain. Although the vegueries were created to replace the provinces,[5] all government, constituency and administration tasks remain constitutionally attributed to the provincial councils (Catalan: diputacions; Aranese Occitan: deputacions).[13]

Unlike vegueries, provinces only follow municipal boundaries and not county ones. This creates some rupture points, notably the county of Baixa Cerdanya, which is broken in half, with the western section administratively belonging to the province of Lleida and the eastern one to the province of Girona. Situations like this have led some isolated municipalities to request a change of provincial boundaries from the Spanish government in order to solve problems in accessing services. One such case is Gósol (Berguedà), the sole municipality in the county that belongs to the province of Lleida, while the rest fall within the province of Barcelona.[14]

Catalans often refer to the provinces in everyday language or in the media as 'demarcations' (Catalan and Aranese Occitan: demarcacions),[15][16][17] attributed by some to their lack of identification or cultural significance.[18]

Municipalities

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Main article: Municipalities of Catalonia
Map of Catalonia's municipalities

The municipalities (Catalan and Aranese Occitan: municipis) constitute the third-level division. In 2024, there were 947 municipalities.[19] Municipalities are run by a council (Catalan and Aranese Occitan: ajuntament) elected through Spain-wide local elections, which then elects a mayor (Catalan: batlle (batle in Terres de l'Ebre); Aranese Occitan: baile).

Unlike other Catalan-speaking territories in Spain, all municipalities in the autonomous community of Catalonia have their names officially in the Catalan language (or in Aranese Occitan, in Aran), but some still use non-standard Castilianised names, such as Cabassers, officially spelled 'Cabacés'.[20]

Partida of Caparrella [ca] within Lleida

Municipalities are sometimes further subdivided into:

Subdivisions of Aran

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The six terçons of Aran within municipality delimitations

The Aran Valley, being a self-governing region within Catalonia (officially a 'unique territorial entity'; Aranese Occitan: entitat territoriau singulara; Catalan: entitat territorial singular) instead of a regular county, as well as a part of the Occitan cultural realm, represents a unique position in the Catalan regional configuration.[7]

Its autonomous government, the General Council of Aran (Aranese Occitan: Conselh Generau d'Aran) was formed in 1991. Originally, it was a mere additional county until the new Aranese law of 2015, which promoted this status, as well as notably recognising its symbols and anthem, giving priority to the Occitan language in administrative matters, and granting the valley the right to self-determination.[7][21][22] Furthermore, by extension, it ensured that Aran would not fall within the Alt Pirineu region.[6]

Terçons

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Main article: Terçon

Terçons are an administrative and electoral subdivision exclusive to Aran. The valley is divided in six terçons.[23]

Municipalities of Aran

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Like the rest of Catalonia, the valley is also divided into municipalities. Aran is composed of nine municipalities, two of which (Vielha e Mijaran and Naut Aran) cover several terçons.[24]

List of subdivisions

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Subdivisions of the autonomous community of Catalonia
First-level division Second-level division Functional area Spanish province
Designation Location Name Capital Population (2023)[9] Main admin. language County County seat Flag Coat of arms Population (2023)[9] Code
vegueria Alt Pirineu La Seu d'Urgell
(de facto)[a] 		65,363 Catalan Alt Urgell La Seu d'Urgell - 20,762 AU Alt Pirineu i Aran Lleida
Alta Ribagorça El Pont de Suert - - 4,019 AG Alt Pirineu i Aran Lleida
Baixa Cerdanya Puigcerdà - 19,885 CD Alt Pirineu i Aran Lleida (west)

Girona (east)

Pallars Jussà Tremp - 13,409 PJ Alt Pirineu i Aran Lleida
Pallars Sobirà Sort 7,288 PS Alt Pirineu i Aran Lleida
Barcelona Barcelona 4,997,394 Catalan Baix Llobregat Sant Feliu de Llobregat - - 840,572 BT Metropolità Barcelona
Barcelonès Barcelona - - 2,313,975 BR Metropolità Barcelona
Maresme Mataró - 467,398 MM Metropolità Barcelona
Vallès Occidental Sabadell, Terrassa[b] - - 949,026 VC Metropolità Barcelona
Vallès Oriental Granollers - - 422,149 VR Metropolità Barcelona
Camp de Tarragona Tarragona 547,800 Catalan Alt Camp Valls - 46,076 AC Camp de Tarragona Tarragona
Baix Camp Reus 201,647 BC Camp de Tarragona Tarragona
Conca de Barberà Montblanc 20,480 CB Camp de Tarragona Tarragona
Priorat Falset - 9,360 PR Camp de Tarragona Tarragona
Tarragonès Tarragona - - 270,237 TR Camp de Tarragona Tarragona
Central Catalonia Manresa
(de facto)[a] 		420,892 Catalan Bages Manresa - - 183,265 BG Comarques Centrals Barcelona
Berguedà Berga 40,618 BD Comarques Centrals Barcelona

Lleida (Gósol)

Lluçanès Prats de Lluçanès - - N/A[c] N/A[c] Comarques Centrals Barcelona
Moianès Moià - - 14,668 MO Comarques Centrals Barcelona
Osona Vic 167.506 OS Comarques Centrals Barcelona

Girona (Espinelves, Vidrà, Viladrau)

Solsonès Solsona - - 13,725 SL Comarques Centrals Lleida
Girona Girona 792,661 Catalan Alt Empordà Figueres 146,766 AE Comarques Gironines Girona
Baix Empordà La Bisbal d'Empordà - - 141.329 BM Comarques Gironines Girona
Garrotxa Olot - - 61,363 GX Comarques Gironines Girona
Gironès Girona - - 201,615 GN Comarques Gironines Girona
Pla de l'Estany Banyoles - - 33,194 PE Comarques Gironines Girona
Ripollès Ripoll - - 25,780 RI Comarques Gironines Girona
Selva Santa Coloma de Farners - - 182,614 SV Comarques Gironines Girona

Barcelona (Fogars de la Selva)

Penedès Vilanova i la Geltrú
(de facto)[a] 		508,653 Catalan Alt Penedès Vilafranca del Penedès - - 112,460 AP Penedès Barcelona
Anoia[d] Igualada 126,752 AI Penedès[d] Barcelona
Baix Penedès El Vendrell - - 115,701 BP Penedès Barcelona
Garraf Vilanova i la Geltrú - - 159,124 GA Penedès Barcelona
Ponent Lleida 373,613 Catalan Garrigues Les Borges Blanques 18,935 GG Ponent Lleida
Noguera Balaguer 39,567 NG Ponent Lleida
Pla d'Urgell Mollerussa 37,737 PU Ponent Lleida
Segarra Cervera - 23,938 SR Ponent Lleida
Segrià Lleida 215,476 SI Ponent Lleida
Urgell Tàrrega 37,960 UR Ponent Lleida
Terres de l'Ebre Tortosa 185,091 Catalan Baix Ebre Tortosa 81,334 BB Terres de l'Ebre Tarragona
Montsià Amposta - 70,244 MT Terres de l'Ebre Tarragona
Ribera d'Ebre Móra d'Ebre - 22,040 RE Terres de l'Ebre Tarragona
Terra Alta Gandesa - 11,473 TT Terres de l'Ebre Tarragona
unique territorial entity Aran Valley Vielha e Mijaran 10,496 Occitan (Aranese) - 10,496 VN Alt Pirineu i Aran Lleida

Other subdivisions

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Districts and neighbourhoods

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The ten districts of Barcelona

Many Catalan cities are divided into neighbourhoods (Catalan and Aranese Occitan: barris). In the case of Barcelona, the city has a higher level of administrative division than the neighbourhoods, which are the districts (Catalan: districtes). Each district has autonomy and capacity for decision-making and economic management. They are governed by a district municipal council that coordinates the district's services and resources.[25]

Census areas

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The census areas (Catalan: seccions censals; Aranese Occitan: seccions censaus) are a subdivision of municipalities and districts, used for census purposes, organisation of electoral processes or collection of statistical data.[26] These areas may comprise a maximum of 2,000 electors and a minimum of 500.[27]

Health areas

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Catalonia's health areas in 2020

The health areas (Catalan and Aranese Occitan: regions sanitàries) are an arrangement of the CatSalut [ca] service to optimise medical care for all municipalities. They are largely similar to the functional territorial areas, with the Barcelona region being further divided into North, South and City.[28][29]

Police areas and basic police areas

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Catalonia's police areas and basic police areas in 2020

Catalonia's police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, manage operations and services through nine police regions (Catalan: regions policials; Aranese Occitan: regions policères).[30]

These regions are also similar to functional territorial areas, with the Barcelona region being divided into North, South and City, while northern Penedès is incorporated into the Central region and southern Penedès into the South Barcelona region. Each of these areas is further subdivided into 'basic police areas' (Catalan: àrees bàsiques policials; Aranese Occitan: airaus basics policèrs; ABP).[30]

Judicial districts

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Judicial districts of the four provincial divisions of Catalonia

Similar to the rest of the Spanish state, Catalonia is divided into 49 judicial districts (Catalan: partits judicials; Aranese Occitan: partits judiciaus) for the purpose of justice administration. These adhere to the province boundaries.[31]

Former divisions

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Historical vegueries

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Further information: Vegueries of Catalonia § Historical vegueries

Following the fall of al-Andalus in Catalonia, the supremacy of the county of Barcelona was consolidated, whose count became sovereign. The veguers exercised the delegation of royal power within their vegueries. The earliest known division of 1304 lists eighteen of them, while the last one of 1720 contains fifteen with eight veguers.[32]

Corregimientos

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Following the Nueva Planta decrees, the Principality of Catalonia became a province divided into twelve Castilian corregimientos (Barcelona, Cervera, Girona, Lleida, Manresa, Mataró, Puigcerdà, Talarn, Tarragona, Tortosa, Vic and Vilafranca del Penedès) and one district (Aran). The new division was based on the former vegueries, removing those of Agramunt, Balaguer, Tàrrega, Camprodon and Montblanc.[33]

Departments

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Main article: French departments of Spain
The Catalan departments in the Napoleonic Empire

Following the brief annexation of both the Spanish territory of Catalonia and Andorra by Napoleonic France, it was divided in four departments, along with Northern Catalonia, which remained in Pyrénées-Orientales:[34]

Aran was incorporated into the Haute-Garonne department.

1936 division

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Regions and counties of Catalonia between 1936 and 1939

The Study Report for the Territorial Division of Catalonia (Catalan: Ponència d'Estudi de la Divisió Territorial de Catalunya) was created by a decree in October 1931. In November 1931, a questionnaire was addressed to all municipal councils consolidating the first instance of the division of Catalonia into counties and vegueries. The division was approved in 1936, with some minor changes and labelling the regions with numerals. The division was operational until the removal of all Catalan autonomy by the Francoist regime after the end of the Spanish Civil War.[35]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Following the vegueries law, the regions of Alt Pirineu, Central Catalonia and Penedès have the most populated cities as their de facto capitals until a law determines them.
  2. ^ Shared capital status. The county council is located in Terrassa.
  3. ^ a b No data available yet as Lluçanès became an administrative county in 2023.
  4. ^ a b The northern portion of Anoia county is part of Central Catalonia.

References

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  1. ^ "Mapa de Vegueries a Catalunya (2021): On és el teu municipi?". beteve.cat (in Catalan). 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  2. ^ "decrets de Nova Planta | enciclopedia.cat". www.enciclopedia.cat. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  3. ^ EP (2011-05-10). "El Govern paralitza la Llei de Vegueries i impulsa el Penedès". Regió7 (in Catalan). Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  4. ^ a b "vegueria | enciclopedia.cat". www.enciclopedia.cat. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  5. ^ a b 324cat (2010-07-09). "El Constitucional només admet les vegueries si es conserven les províncies". CCMA (in Catalan). Retrieved 2023-06-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b c 324cat (2010-05-26). "La Vall d'Aran quedarà fora de la vegueria de l'Alt Pirineu". 3Cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-09-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ a b c d "LLEI 1/2015, del 5 de febrer, del règim especial d'Aran" [Administration of Aran Act] (PDF) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  8. ^ "La vegueria de l'Alt Ter és morta! Visca la Garrotxa, el Ripollès i la Catalunya central!". Osona (in Catalan). 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Idescat. Statistical Yearbook of Catalonia. Population on 1 January. Counties and Aran, areas and provinces". www.idescat.cat. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  10. ^ "L'endemà del 28-M al Lluçanès: a punt de crear-se el primer govern de la nova comarca". Nació Digital (in Catalan). 2023-05-29. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  11. ^ 324cat (2015-04-23). "La nova comarca del Moianès ja està inclosa als mapes comarcals de l'ICGC". 3Cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-09-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ 324cat (2023-05-03). "El Lluçanès, 43a comarca de Catalunya". 3Cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-09-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Spanish Constitution 1978, Article 141(2).
  14. ^ 324cat (2023-11-28). "El cas singular de Gósol, que vol deixar de dependre de quatre administracions: "Cal un debat"". CCMA (in Catalan). Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "Lleida és la demarcació catalana on més va créixer l'economia el 2022". Lleida (in Catalan). 2023-07-13. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  16. ^ ARA (2024-07-01). "La demarcació de Barcelona podria cobrir el 90% del consum elèctric amb plaques solars". Ara.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  17. ^ 3Cat. "Províncies". 3Cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-09-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "OPINIÓ | Jaume Pros - Província o demarcació". El Vallenc (in Catalan). 2024-03-06. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  19. ^ "Catalonia". gencat.cat. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  20. ^ 324cat (2024-07-10). "De Cabacés a Cabassers: l'Ajuntament accepta catalanitzar el nom imposat pel franquisme". 3Cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-09-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ "El Parlament aprova la llei de l'Aran i reconeix el seu dret a decidir". La Vanguardia (in Catalan). 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  22. ^ "El Parlamento catalán reconoce a Arán como «realidad nacional» con derecho a decidir". www.larazon.es (in Spanish). 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  23. ^ "terçó | enciclopedia.cat". www.enciclopedia.cat. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  24. ^ "Idescat. The municipality in figures". www.idescat.cat. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  25. ^ "The organisation | Barcelona City Council". ajuntament.barcelona.cat. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  26. ^ "Seccions censals | icgc". www.icgc.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  27. ^ "Diccionari electoral". Processos electorals (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  28. ^ "MAPA | Quines són les regions sanitàries de Catalunya?". ElNacional.cat (in Catalan). 2020-05-04. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  29. ^ "Regions sanitàries". CatSalut. Servei Català de la Salut (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  30. ^ a b "Police regions". Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  31. ^ "Cartografía de partidos judiciales". www.mjusticia.gob.es (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  32. ^ "vegueria | enciclopedia.cat". www.enciclopedia.cat. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  33. ^ "decrets de Nova Planta | enciclopedia.cat". www.enciclopedia.cat. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  34. ^ "France modifications". www.histoire-empire.org. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  35. ^ Balcells, Albert; Pujol, Enric (2002). Història de l'Institut d'Estudis Catalans. Institut d'Estudis Catalans. ISBN 8472836568.
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