Local government in Spain in the context of "Comarca (Spain)"

A province in Spain is a territorial division defined as a collection of municipalities. The current provinces of Spain correspond by and large to the provinces created under the purview of the 1833 territorial re-organization of Spain, with a similar predecessor from 1822 (during the Trienio Liberal) and an earlier precedent in the 1810 Napoleonic division of Spain into 84 prefectures. There are many other groupings of municipalities that comprise the local government of Spain.

The boundaries of provinces can only be altered by the Spanish Parliament, giving rise to the common view that the 17 autonomous communities are subdivided into 50 provinces. In reality, the system is not hierarchical but defined according to jurisdiction (Spanish: competencias).

In Spain, a comarca (Spanish: [koˈmaɾka] ) is a traditional informal territorial division, comprising several municipalities sharing geographical, economic or cultural traits, typically with not well defined limits. Modernly, they have been formally defined for all the autonomous communities of Spain, as territorial entities intermediate between the municipality and the province, although their status ranges from official and with administrative functions (providing common local government services) in some communities, to unofficial and based on mere preliminary studies in other communities.

A provincial council (also sometimes translated literally as provincial deputation, Spanish: diputación provincial) is the administrator and governing body of a province of Spain. It is one of the entities that make up local government in Spain. The council is made up of a president, vice presidents, an executive committee and the plenary assembly of deputies.

In present-day Spain, a mancomunidad (English: municipal association) is an association of municipalities voluntarily established by some municipalities with the aim of carrying out joint projects or providing common services.

A mancomunidad is one of the local entities defined for the purpose of local government, to which those municipalities may voluntarily delegate some of their functions and powers. There were 1,023 mancomunidades in 2011.