1833 territorial division of Spain
Encyclopedia
The 1833 territorial division of Spain divided Spain
into provinces
, classified into "historic regions" .Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833 on the official web site of the government of the Canary Islands, accessed 2009-12-31. Many of these regions correspond to present-day autonomous communities of Spain
and nearly all of the provinces retain roughly or precisely these borders, although five provinces have changed their names to reflect local languages
other than Castilian Spanish
and three to match the name of a coterminous autonomous community.
Maria Christina
attempted to find a moderate third way between the absolutist
Carlists
—the followers of the Infante Carlos
—and the liberals
. This mission was given to First Secretary of State Francisco Cea Bermúdez, leader of a government that lasted only into the following January, having been unable to satisfy either side, let alone both. Despite his vain efforts to gain the support of either the liberals or the Carlists, his government undertook a major reform of the territorial division of Spain whose effects are still felt after more than a century-and-a-half: the division of Spain into provinces.
A royal decree of 20 November 1833 ratified a plan put forth by Javier de Burgos
, secretary of state for development (secretario de estado de Fomento), which created the basis for a centralized state divided into 49 provinces. All but four of the provinces received the name of their capital cities; those four—Navarre
with its capital at Pamplona
, Álava
with Vitoria, Guipúzcoa with San Sebastián
, and Biscay
with Bilbao
—reflected longstanding entities, and retained their historic names.
Javier de Burgos's division is practically the same as the shortlived 1822 territorial division of Spain
, dating from the "Liberal Trienium" (Trienio Liberal), but without the provinces of Calatayud
, Vierzo
, and Játiva
; also, in contrast to the 1822 division, several provinces were given names other than those of their capitals.
Besides looking to the 1822 arrangement, Javier de Burgos took as his model the departments of France. While many of the borders and inclusions in the provinces may at first appear arbitrary from a historical and geographical point of view, he was operating under a set of rational criteria: area (it was intended to be possible to travel between the capital and any point in the province in a single day), population (wherever feasible, the provinces had populations between 100,000 and 400,000), and geographic coherence.
The provincial division restored the traditional names of the Basque provinces and Navarre, but few concessions were made to historic enclaves and exclaves
. The most important of these that were retained were the Rincón de Ademuz
(part of Valencia, but located between Teruel and Cuenca) and the Enclave of Treviño
(part of Burgos, but surrounded by Álava); another notable exclave is Llívia
(part of Gerona, but one must pass 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) through France
to reach it).
The provincial division consolidated rapidly and remains with rather few changes down to the present day. This is in part because the provincial capitals all became the seats of basic government institutions. The jefes políticos would eventually be replaced by civil governors, and eventually delegates of the central government. The provincial division was followed by all branches of government and formed the basis for all future divisions and combinations. Each of Spain's municipalities
(ayuntamientos) falls within a single province.
In 1834, Spain was divided into legal district
s (partidos judiciales); these took provincial borders into account. These legal districts later became the basis of electoral districts and tax districts. Civil health districts also followed provincial lines (though military health districts sometimes did not). By 1868 there were 463 legal districts; the number of municipalities has repeatedly risen and fallen.
in the later 1970s and early 1980s, when they were replaced by the autonomous communities
, many of which coincide precisely with an earlier "historic region". Some authors writing about present-day Spain use the term "historic regions" to refer only to the Basque Country, Catalonia, usually Galicia, and occasionally Andalusia, all of which have historically had the strong local nationalisms.
Under Article 141 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978
, the provinces remain Spain's basic units of territorial organization. They are the basis for electoral constituencies (Article 68) and autonomous communities are normally formed out of one or more provinces, with no province divided between two or more autonomous communities (Article 143). The revised Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia
that went into effect in August 2006 ignores the provincial division within Catalonia
, replacing it with a division into seven vegueria
s. That division is not expected to modify the existing provincial division recognized by the central government, in order not to alter, for example, the number of senators
or deputies that Catalonia contributes to Spain's parliament, the Cortes Generales
: this is regulated by Article 69 of the Constitution in terms of provinces. As of December 2009, while the veguerias project remains controversial, the Catalan government intends to put it into effect in January 2010.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
into provinces
Provinces of Spain
Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces .In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian , sing. província.*Galician , sing. provincia.*Basque |Galicia]] — are not also the capitals of provinces...
, classified into "historic regions" .Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833 on the official web site of the government of the Canary Islands, accessed 2009-12-31. Many of these regions correspond to present-day autonomous communities of Spain
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
and nearly all of the provinces retain roughly or precisely these borders, although five provinces have changed their names to reflect local languages
Languages of Spain
The languages of Spain are the languages spoken or once spoken in Spain. Romance languages are the most widely spoken in Spain, of which Spanish is the country's official language...
other than Castilian Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and three to match the name of a coterminous autonomous community.
Background
Immediately after the death of King Ferdinand VII on 29 September 1833, the regentRegent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
Maria Christina
Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies
Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies was Queen consort of Spain and Regent of Spain .-Early years and first marriage:...
attempted to find a moderate third way between the absolutist
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
Carlists
Carlism
Carlism is a traditionalist and legitimist political movement in Spain seeking the establishment of a separate line of the Bourbon family on the Spanish throne. This line descended from Infante Carlos, Count of Molina , and was founded due to dispute over the succession laws and widespread...
—the followers of the Infante Carlos
Infante Carlos, Count of Molina
The Infante Carlos of Spain was the second surviving son of King Charles IV of Spain and of his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma. As Carlos V he was the first of the Carlist claimants to the throne of Spain...
—and the liberals
Liberalism and radicalism in Spain
This article gives an overview of liberalism and radicalism in Spain. It is limited to liberal and radical parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having been represented in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme...
. This mission was given to First Secretary of State Francisco Cea Bermúdez, leader of a government that lasted only into the following January, having been unable to satisfy either side, let alone both. Despite his vain efforts to gain the support of either the liberals or the Carlists, his government undertook a major reform of the territorial division of Spain whose effects are still felt after more than a century-and-a-half: the division of Spain into provinces.
A royal decree of 20 November 1833 ratified a plan put forth by Javier de Burgos
Javier de Burgos
Francisco Javier de Burgos y del Olmo was a Spanish jurist, politician, journalist, and translator.-Early life and career:...
, secretary of state for development (secretario de estado de Fomento), which created the basis for a centralized state divided into 49 provinces. All but four of the provinces received the name of their capital cities; those four—Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
with its capital at Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
, Álava
Álava
Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...
with Vitoria, Guipúzcoa with San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
, and Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
with Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
—reflected longstanding entities, and retained their historic names.
Javier de Burgos's division is practically the same as the shortlived 1822 territorial division of Spain
1822 territorial division of Spain
The 1822 territorial division of Spain was a rearrangement of the territory of Spain into various provinces, enacted briefly during the Trienio Liberal of 1820–1823...
, dating from the "Liberal Trienium" (Trienio Liberal), but without the provinces of Calatayud
Province of Calatayud
The Province of Calatayud was a province of Spain created in the 1822 territorial division of Spain , during the Trienio Liberal of 1820–1823...
, Vierzo
Province of Villafranca
The Province of Villafranca was a province of Spain created in the 1822 territorial division of Spain , during the Trienio Liberal of 1820–1823. Its population of 86,365 represented 0.7% of the total Spanish population of the time...
, and Játiva
Province of Játiva
The Province of Játiva was a province of Spain created in the 1822 territorial division of Spain , during the Trienio Liberal of 1820–1823. Its population of 164,795 represented 1.41% of the total Spanish population of the time. Its capital was Játiva...
; also, in contrast to the 1822 division, several provinces were given names other than those of their capitals.
Provincial division and "historic regions"
Javier de Burgos' 1833 provincial division included 49 provinces. The same decree that created the provincial division grouped the provinces into "historic regions". However, these were merely honorary and classificatory: there was no level of administration between the central government and the provinces. These "historic regions" had no powers, no administrative organs, no common jurisdiction over the provinces grouped within them. Each province had a governor (jefe político, "political chief") appointed by the central government.| Historic region | Provinces |
|---|---|
| Andalusia Andalusia Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and... |
Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga, Sevilla |
| Aragon Aragon Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza... |
Huesca, Teruel, Zaragoza |
| Asturias Asturias The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages... |
Oviedo Asturias The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages... |
| Balearic Islands Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital... |
Palma de Mallorca Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital... |
| Canary Islands Canary Islands The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union... |
Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union... (which also included the present-day province of Las Palmas) |
| New Castile | Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Madrid, Toledo |
| Old Castile Old Castile Old Castile is a historic region of Spain, which included territory that later corresponded to the provinces of Santander , Burgos, Logroño , Soria, Segovia, Ávila, Valladolid, Palencia.... |
Ávila, Burgos, Logroño, Palencia, Santander Cantabria Cantabria is a Spanish historical region and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community , on the south by Castile and León , on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.Cantabria... , Segovia, Soria, Valladolid |
| Catalonia Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an... |
Barcelona, Gerona, Lérida, Tarragona |
| Extremadura Extremadura Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west... |
Badajoz, Cáceres |
| Galicia | La Coruña, Lugo Lugo (province) Lugo is a province of northwestern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Ourense, Pontevedra, and A Coruña, the principality of Asturias, the State of León, and in the north by the Cantabrian Sea .The population is 356,595 , of... , Orense, Pontevedra |
| León León (historical region) The region of León or Leonese region is a hitoric territory defined by the 1833 Spanish administrative organisation. The Leonese region encompassed the provinces of Salamanca, Zamora, and León, now part of the modern Spanish autonomous community of Castile and León.-Leonese History:Until 1833, the... |
León, Salamanca, Zamora |
| Murcia Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeast of the country, between Andalusia and Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast.... |
Albacete, Murcia |
| Navarre Navarre Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France... |
Navarre Navarre Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France... |
| Valencia Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia... |
Alicante, Castellón, Valencia. |
| Basque provinces Basque Country (autonomous community) The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories.... |
Álava Álava Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community... , Guipúzcoa, Vizcaya Biscay Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao... . |
| Source: Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833 | |
Besides looking to the 1822 arrangement, Javier de Burgos took as his model the departments of France. While many of the borders and inclusions in the provinces may at first appear arbitrary from a historical and geographical point of view, he was operating under a set of rational criteria: area (it was intended to be possible to travel between the capital and any point in the province in a single day), population (wherever feasible, the provinces had populations between 100,000 and 400,000), and geographic coherence.
The provincial division restored the traditional names of the Basque provinces and Navarre, but few concessions were made to historic enclaves and exclaves
Enclave and exclave
In political geography, an enclave is a territory whose geographical boundaries lie entirely within the boundaries of another territory.An exclave, on the other hand, is a territory legally or politically attached to another territory with which it is not physically contiguous.These are two...
. The most important of these that were retained were the Rincón de Ademuz
Rincón de Ademuz
Rincón de Ademuz is Spanish comarca constituted as an exclave of both the Region of Valencia and the province of Valencia located between the provinces of Cuenca and Teruel .-Overview:...
(part of Valencia, but located between Teruel and Cuenca) and the Enclave of Treviño
Enclave of Treviño
The Enclave of Treviño in northern Spain is part of the territory of the province of Burgos , but is completely surrounded by the territory of the Basque province of Álava. It consists of two municipalities—Condado de Treviño and La Puebla de Arganzón—and is part of the legal district of Miranda...
(part of Burgos, but surrounded by Álava); another notable exclave is Llívia
Llívia
Llívia is a town of Cerdanya, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is a Spanish exclave within the French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...
(part of Gerona, but one must pass 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) through France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to reach it).
The provincial division consolidated rapidly and remains with rather few changes down to the present day. This is in part because the provincial capitals all became the seats of basic government institutions. The jefes políticos would eventually be replaced by civil governors, and eventually delegates of the central government. The provincial division was followed by all branches of government and formed the basis for all future divisions and combinations. Each of Spain's municipalities
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
(ayuntamientos) falls within a single province.
In 1834, Spain was divided into legal district
Legal district
A legal district or judicial district denotes the territorial area for which a legal court has jurisdiction.-Courts in Germany:In Germany, ordinary Gerichtsbarkeit courts are the smallest districts of those courts. There are superior court districts, which usually have several legal districts...
s (partidos judiciales); these took provincial borders into account. These legal districts later became the basis of electoral districts and tax districts. Civil health districts also followed provincial lines (though military health districts sometimes did not). By 1868 there were 463 legal districts; the number of municipalities has repeatedly risen and fallen.
Later modifications
As remarked above, the 1833 system of provinces has undergone only minimal changes. Jefes políticos were replaced by civil governors, and eventually by delegates and sub-delegates of the central government. There were a few minor adjustments of borders, and several provinces have been renamed to accord with local languages or in view of other issues of regional identity. The "historic regions" went by the wayside during the Spanish transition to democracySpanish transition to democracy
The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
in the later 1970s and early 1980s, when they were replaced by the autonomous communities
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
, many of which coincide precisely with an earlier "historic region". Some authors writing about present-day Spain use the term "historic regions" to refer only to the Basque Country, Catalonia, usually Galicia, and occasionally Andalusia, all of which have historically had the strong local nationalisms.
- In 1836 some territory was transferred from Alicante to Valencia, while VillenaVillenaVillena is a city in Spain, in the Valencian Community. It is located at the northwest part of Alicante, and borders to the west with Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia, to the north with the province of Valencia and to the east and south with the province of Alicante. It is the capital of the comarca...
was transferred from Albacete to Alicante and SaxSax, AlicanteSax is a municipality in the comarca of Alt Vinalopó, province of Alicante, Valencian Community.-History:There are archaeological findings in the area dating to the Bronze Age, as well as an Iberian necropolis and remains of Roman villas....
from Murcia to Alicante. - In 1841 a decree was issued returning Logroño to its larger 1822 borders, but it was never put into practice.
- Between 1844 and 1854 the capital of Guipúzcoa was at Tolosa rather than San Sebastián.
- In 1846 the border between Ciudad Real and Albacete was adjusted, with VillarrobledoVillarrobledoVillarrobledo is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Albacete, part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha.Villarrobledo has the world's largest area covered by vineyards as well as the world's greatest production of La Mancha wine, called in Spanish Denominación de Origen)...
becoming part of the latter. - In 1851 RequenaRequena, ValenciaRequena is a municipality in eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, located on the left bank of the river Magro.The town was formerly a Moorish fortress, occupying a strong position in the mountainous region of Las Cabrillas . It is dominated by the ancient citadel of the Moors, and still has...
and UtielUtielUtiel is a municipality in the comarca of Requena-Utiel in the Valencian Community, Spain.The Shrine of El Remedio is located on top of the Sierra de Utiel range, near Utiel.-External links:*...
were transferred from Cuenca to Valencia. - In 1927 the single most important change took place: the Canary IslandsCanary IslandsThe Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, previously a single province, were divided into the present-day provinces of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, bringing the number of provinces to 50. - In 1980 the province of Logroño was renamed the province of La Rioja.
- In 1982, as part of its transformation into an autonomous community, the province of Santander was renamed the province of Cantabria.
- In 1983 the province of Oviedo was renamed the province of Asturias.
- In 1992 the provinces of Gerona and Lérida changed to use their Catalan languageCatalan languageCatalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
names Girona and Lleida, respectively. License plates from Gerona/Girona were changed from "GE" to "GI". - In 1995 the municipality of GátovaGátovaGátova Valencian: Gàtova) is a municipality in the comarca of Camp de Túria in the Valencian Community, Spain.The town is situated in the heart of the Serra Calderona, a natural protected park in Valencia.-External links:* *...
was transferred from the province of Castellón to the province of Valencia. - In 1997, the province of Palma de Mallorca was renamed the provincia de Illes Balears (Province of the Balearic Islands, using the Catalan name for the islands). The license plate changed from "PM" to "IB".
- In 1998 the provinces of La Coruña and Orense changed to the Galician languageGalician languageGalician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
A Coruña and Ourense. The license plate of Orense/Ourense changed from "OR" to "OU".
Under Article 141 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978
Spanish Constitution of 1978
-Structure of the State:The Constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions . Preliminary Title As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution...
, the provinces remain Spain's basic units of territorial organization. They are the basis for electoral constituencies (Article 68) and autonomous communities are normally formed out of one or more provinces, with no province divided between two or more autonomous communities (Article 143). The revised Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia
Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia
The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Catalonia , the political institutions of the Catalan nationality, their competences and relations with the rest of Spain, and the financing of the...
that went into effect in August 2006 ignores the provincial division within Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, replacing it with a division into seven vegueria
Vegueria
The vegueria was the feudal administrative territorial jurisdiction of the Principality of Catalonia during the Middle Ages and into the Modern Era until the Nueva Planta decrees of 1716...
s. That division is not expected to modify the existing provincial division recognized by the central government, in order not to alter, for example, the number of senators
Spanish Senate
The Senate of Spain is the upper house of Spain's parliament, the . It is made up of 264 members: 208 elected by popular vote, and 56 appointed by the regional legislatures. All senators serve four-year terms, though regional legislatures may recall their appointees at any time.The last election...
or deputies that Catalonia contributes to Spain's parliament, the Cortes Generales
Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...
: this is regulated by Article 69 of the Constitution in terms of provinces. As of December 2009, while the veguerias project remains controversial, the Catalan government intends to put it into effect in January 2010.