In Spain, a comarca (Spanish: [koˈmaɾka] )[a] is either a traditional territorial division without any formal basis, or a group of municipalities, legally defined by an autonomous community for the purpose of providing common local government services.[1][2] In English, a comarca is equivalent to a district, county, area or zone.

Comarca
CategoryComarca
LocationSpain
Found inautonomous communities
Number83 formal, 465 total (as of 20 June 2022)
Government
Subdivisions
Comarcas of Spain

Legally defined comarcas

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The large majority of legally defined comarcas are in Catalonia (42) and Aragon (33), and are regulated by law and are governed by a comarcal council with specified powers. There are seven comarcas formally registered in Basque Country and one, El Bierzo, in Castile and León.[2] In Andalusia, Galicia, Valencia and Asturias, comarcas are defined by regional law but lack any defined function.

Informal comarcas

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In other regions, comarcas are traditional or historical or in some cases, contemporary creations designed for tourism promotions. In some other cases (e.g. La Carballeda) a comarca may correspond to a natural area, like a valley, river basin and mountainous area, or even to historical regions overlapping different provinces and ancient kingdoms (e.g. Ilercavonia).[3]

In such comarcas or natural regions municipalities have resorted to organizing themselves in mancomunidad (commonwealth), like the Taula del Sénia, the only legal formula that has allowed those comarcas to manage their public municipal resources meaningfully.[citation needed]

There is also a comarca, the Cerdanya that is divided between two states, the southwestern half being counted as a comarca of Spain, while the northeastern half is part of France.

Relationship to other groups of municipalities

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There are also other groupings of municipalities in Spain including provinces, mancomunidades, metropolitan areas and the major islands of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands.

Legally defined comarcas have their boundaries and functions defined by the relevant regional government (autonomous community) and so do not necessarily have boundaries consistent with provinces which are defined by the State.[4] The remit of comarcas is very similar to that of the provinces and has been criticised for duplication.[5] However in Catalonia, the comarca (and not the province) has been the traditional territorial organisation.[6]

List of comarcas of Spain by autonomous communities

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Comarcas of Andalusia

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Comarcas of Andalusia

Comarcas of the province of Almería

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Comarcas of the province of Cádiz

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Comarcas of Cádiz

Comarcas of the province of Córdoba

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Comarcas of the province of Granada

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Comarcas of Granada

Comarcas of the province of Huelva

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Comarcas of the province of Jaén

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Comarcas de Jaén

Comarcas of the province of Málaga

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Comarcas of the province of Sevilla

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Comarcas of Aragon

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Comarcas of Aragon

Comarcas of the province of Huesca/Uesca

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Comarcas of the province of Teruel

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Comarcas of the province of Zaragoza

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Comarcas of Asturias

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Comarcas of Asturias

Comarques of the Balearic Islands

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Mallorca

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Menorca

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Pitiüses

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Eskualdeak / Comarcas of the Basque Country

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Eskualdeak / Cuadrillas of the province of Álava-Araba

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Eskualdeak / Comarcas of the province of Biscay

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Eskualdeak of Biscay

Eskualdeak / Comarcas of the province of Gipuzkoa

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Comarcas of the Canary Islands

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Comarcas of the province of Las Palmas

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Comarcas of the province of Tenerife

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Comarcas of Cantabria

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Comarcas of Cantabria.

Comarques of Catalonia

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Comarques of Catalonia

Reference:[7]

Comarques of the province of Barcelona

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Comarques of the province of Girona

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Comarques of the province of Lleida

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Comarques of the province of Tarragona

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Comarcas of the province of Albacete

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Comarcas of the province of Ciudad Real

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Comarcas of the province of Cuenca

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Comarcas of the province of Guadalajara

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Comarcas of the province of Toledo

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Comarcas of the province of Ávila

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Comarcas of the province of Burgos

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Comarcas of Burgos.

Comarcas of the province of León

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Comarcas of the province of Palencia

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Comarcas of the province of Salamanca

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Comarcas of Salamanca.

Comarcas of the province of Segovia

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An official classification establishes three comarcas:

or sometimes four:

However, historic approaches (before the national classification into provinces) establish six comarcas:

Comarcas of the province of Soria

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Comarcas of the province of Valladolid

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Comarcas of the province of Zamora

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Comarcas of Zamora.

Comarcas of Extremadura

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Comarcas of the province of Badajoz

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Comarcas of the province of Cáceres

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Comarcas of Galicia

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Comarcas in Galicia

Comarcas of the province of A Coruña

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Comarcas of the province of Lugo

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Comarcas of the province of Ourense

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Comarcas of the province of Pontevedra

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Comarcas of La Rioja

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Comarcas of Madrid

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Comarcas de Murcia

Eskualdeak / Comarcas of Navarre

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Eskualdeak/Comarcas of Navarre

Comarques of the Valencian Community

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Comarcas of the Comunitat Valenciana

Comarques of the province of Alicante

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Comarques of the province of Castellón

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Comarques of the province of Valencia

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In other languages of Spain:

References

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  1. ^ Local Government Act 1985, Article 42.
  2. ^ a b Register of Local Entities.
  3. ^ Cools & Verbeek 2013, Explanatory Memorandum paragraph 33 on page 11.
  4. ^ Cools & Verbeek 2013, Explanatory Memorandum paragraph 221 on page 38.
  5. ^ Cools & Verbeek 2013, Explanatory Memorandum paragraph 221 on page 38 and paragraph 2 of the Summary.
  6. ^ Albet i Mas 2019, p. 27.
  7. ^ "Idescat. Anuari estadístic de Catalunya. Nombre de municipis i població. Comarques i Aran". www.idescat.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2020-07-14.

Bibliography

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