Spain's fifty provinces (provincias) are grouped into seventeen autonomous communities (comunidades autónomas), in addition to two African autonomous cities (ciudades autónomas) (Ceuta and Melilla).

Formation and powers

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Centralism, nationalism and separatism played an important role in the Spanish transition. For fear that separatism would lead to instability and a dictatorial backlash, a compromise was struck among the moderate political parties taking part in the drafting of the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The aim was to appease separatist forces and so disarm the extreme right. A highly decentralized state was established, compared both with the previous Francoist regime and with most modern territorial arrangements in Western European nations.

The autonomous communities have wide legislative and executive autonomy, with their own parliaments and regional governments. The distribution of powers is different for every community, as laid out in the "autonomy statute" (estatuto de autonomía). There is a de facto distinction between "historic" communities (Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, and Andalusia) and the rest. The historic ones initially received more functions, including the ability of the regional presidents to choose the timing of the regional elections (as long as they happen at most 4 years apart). As another example, the Basque Country and Catalonia have full-range police forces of their own: Ertzaintza in the Basque Country and Mossos d'Esquadra in Catalonia. Other communities have a more limited force or none at all (eg. Policía Autónoma Andaluzahttp://www.cartujo.org/pag(a9).htm Orden Ministerial de 31 de agosto de 1993 por la que se constituye una Unidad Autónoma del Cuerpo Nacional de Policía y se adscribe a la Comunidad Autonómica Andaluza.).

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NEWS: Freezing temperatures in 46 provinces across Spain: 46 provinces in 13 autonomous communities... http://bit.ly/5MYztM #spain #spanish
ThinkSpain (think SPAIN) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:26:45 -0000
NEWS: Freezing temperatures in 46 provinces across Spain: 46 provinces in 13 autonomous communities... http://bit.ly/5MYztM #spain #spanish
Milton Friedman's grandson is building a libertarian utopia out of autonomous ocean communities, ck it out http://seasteading.org/
CourtneyBMyers (Courtney Boyd Myers) Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:24:47 -0000
Milton Friedman's grandson is building a libertarian utopia out of autonomous ocean communities, ck it out http://seasteading.org/

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