León is a province in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. The province is divided into 211 municipalities. Spanish census, León is the 30th most populous of Spain's 50 provinces, with inhabitants, and the 7th largest by land area, spanning . Municipalities are the most basic local political division in Spain and can only belong to one province. They enjoy a large degree of autonomy in their local administration, being in charge of tasks such as urban planning, water supply, lighting, roads, local police, and firefighting.
The organisation of municipalities in Spain is outlined by the local government law Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local (), which was passed by the Cortes Generales—Spain’s national parliament—on 2 April 1985 and finalised by royal decree on 18 April 1986. Municipalities in León are also governed by the , which includes provisions concerning their relations with Castile and León's autonomous government. All citizens of Spain are required to register in the municipality in which they reside. Each municipality is a corporation with independent legal personhood: its governing body is called the ayuntamiento (municipal council or corporation), a term often also used to refer to the municipal offices (city and town halls). The ayuntamiento is composed of the mayor (), the deputy mayors (tenientes de alcalde) and the councillors (concejales), who form the plenary (pleno), the deliberative body. Municipalities are categorised by population for determining the number of councillors: three when the population is up to 100 inhabitants, five for 101250, seven for 2511,000, nine for 1,0012,000, eleven for 2,0015,000, thirteen for 5,00110,000, seventeen for 10,00120,000, twenty-one for 20,00150,000, and twenty-five for 50,001100,000. One councillor is added for every additional 100,000 inhabitants, with a further one included if the total would otherwise be even, to avoid tied votes.
The mayor and the deputy mayors are elected by the plenary assembly, which is itself elected by universal suffrage. Elections in municipalities with more than 250 inhabitants are carried out following a proportional representation system with closed lists, whilst those with a population lower than 250 use a block plurality voting system with open lists. The plenary assembly must meet periodically, with meetings occurring more or less frequently depending on the population of the municipality: monthly for those whose population is larger than 20,000, once every two months if it ranges between 5,001 and 20,000, and once every three months if it does not exceed 5,000. Many ayuntamientos also have a local governing board (), which is appointed by the mayor from amongst the councillors and is required for municipalities of over 5,000 inhabitants. The board, whose role is to assist the mayor between meetings of the plenary assembly, may not include more than one third of the councillors.
The largest municipality by population in the province as of the 2024 Spanish census is León, its capital, with residents, while the smallest is Escobar de Campos, with residents. The largest municipality by area is Truchas, which spans , while Hospital de Órbigo is the smallest at .
Municipalities
+ Name Population(2024 census) Population(2011 census) Population change Land area (km²) To access the information, scroll down the page and download the file entitled "Nomenclátor Geográfico de Municipios y Entidades de Población" by clicking the left icon in the column "Descarga". Then open the downloaded zip folder and the file titled "MUNICIPIOS", which provides the land area for every municipality in Spain under the header "Superficie". Population density(2024) Acebedo Algadefe Alija del Infantado Almanza Ardón Arganza Astorga Balboa Barjas Bembibre Benavides Benuza Bercianos del Páramo Bercianos del Real Camino Berlanga del Bierzo Boca de Huérgano Boñar Borrenes Brazuelo Burón Bustillo del Páramo Cabañas Raras Cabreros del Río Cabrillanes Cacabelos Calzada del Coto Campazas Campo de Villavidel Camponaraya Cármenes Carracedelo Carrizo Carrocera Carucedo Castilfalé Castrillo de Cabrera Castrillo de la Valduerna Castrocalbón Castrocontrigo Castropodame Castrotierra de Valmadrigal Cea Cebanico Cebrones del Río Chozas de Abajo Cimanes de la Vega Cimanes del Tejar Cistierna Congosto Corbillos de los Oteros Corullón Crémenes Cuadros Cubillas de los Oteros Cubillas de Rueda Cubillos del Sil Destriana Encinedo Escobar de Campos Fabero Folgoso de la Ribera Fresno de la Vega Fuentes de Carbajal Garrafe de Torío Gordaliza del Pino Gordoncillo Gradefes Grajal de Campos Gusendos de los Oteros Hospital de Órbigo Igüeña Izagre Joarilla de las Matas Laguna Dalga Laguna de Negrillos León Llamas de la Ribera Lucillo Luyego Magaz de Cepeda Mansilla de las Mulas Mansilla Mayor Maraña Matadeón de los Oteros Matallana de Torío Matanza Molinaseca Murias de Paredes Noceda del Bierzo Oencia Onzonilla Oseja de Sajambre Pajares de los Oteros Palacios de la Valduerna Palacios del Sil Páramo del Sil Peranzanes Pobladura de Pelayo García Ponferrada Posada de Valdeón Pozuelo del Páramo Prado de la Guzpeña Priaranza del Bierzo Prioro Puebla de Lillo Puente de Domingo Flórez Quintana del Castillo Quintana del Marco Quintana y Congosto Regueras de Arriba Reyero Riaño Riego de la Vega Riello Rioseco de Tapia Roperuelos del Páramo Sabero Sahagún San Adrián del Valle San Andrés del Rabanedo Sancedo San Cristóbal de la Polantera San Emiliano San Esteban de Nogales San Justo de la Vega San Millán de los Caballeros San Pedro Bercianos Santa Colomba de Curueño Santa Colomba de Somoza Santa Cristina de Valmadrigal Santa Elena de Jamuz Santa María de la Isla Santa María del Monte de Cea Santa María de Ordás Santa María del Páramo Santa Marina del Rey Santas Martas Santiago Millas Santovenia de la Valdoncina Sariegos Sena de Luna Sobrado Soto de la Vega Soto y Amío Toral de los Guzmanes Toral de los Vados Toreno Torre del Bierzo Trabadelo Truchas Turcia Urdiales del Páramo Valdefresno Valdefuentes del Páramo Valdelugueros Valdemora Valdepiélago Valdepolo Valderas Valderrey Valderrueda Valdesamario Val de San Lorenzo Valdevimbre Valencia de Don Juan Valverde de la Virgen Valverde-Enrique Vallecillo Valle de Ancares Vegacervera Vega de Espinareda Vega de Infanzones Vega de Valcarce Vegaquemada Vegas del Condado Villablino Villabraz Villadangos del Páramo Villademor de la Vega Villafranca del Bierzo Villagatón Villamandos Villamanín Villamañán Villamartín de Don Sancho Villamejil Villamol Villamontán de la Valduerna Villamoratiel de las Matas Villanueva de las Manzanas Villaobispo de Otero Villaornate y Castro Villaquejida Villaquilambre Villarejo de Órbigo Villares de Órbigo Villasabariego Villaselán Villaturiel Villazala Villazanzo de Valderaduey Zotes del Páramo Province of León Castile and León Spain
See also Geography of Spain List of municipalities of Spain
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