Ayuntamiento (Spanish pronunciation:[aʝuntaˈmjento])[note 1] is the general term for the town council, orcabildo, of amunicipality[1] or, sometimes, as is often the case inSpain andLatin America, for the municipality itself.Ayuntamiento is mainly used in Spain; in Latin Americaalcaldía is also for municipal governing bodies, especially the executive ones, where the legislative body and the executive body are two separate entities. InCatalan-speaking parts of Spain, municipalities generally use the Catalan cognate,ajuntament, whileGalician ones use the wordconcello,Astur-Leoneseconceyu andBasqueudaletxea. Sinceayuntamiento is ametonym for the building in which the council meets, it also translates to "city/town hall" in English.
With the eighteenth-centuryBourbon Reforms inNew Spain, which created intendancies and weakened the power of theviceroy, theayuntamientos "became the institution representing the interests of the local and regional oligarchical groups then setting deep roots into their territories."[2] TheSpanish Constitution of 1812 called for the transformation of the ayuntamiento, previously dominated by elites, into a representative institution with elections. Article 310 called for the establishment of an ayuntamiento for all settlements with 1,000 inhabitants.[3]
The termayuntamiento was often preceded by the wordexcelentísimo ("most excellent"), when referring to the council. This phrase is often abbreviated "Exc.mo Ay.to ". Other names for ayuntamiento have beencasa de cabildo,casa capitular,casa consistorial andcasa del concejo.[4]
In Latin America several terms exist for the legislative bodies of municipalities. The termconsejo is used inArgentina,Chile,Colombia,Costa Rica, andPeru. In Mexico the termayuntamiento is for thecouncil (which refers to itself as theH. Ayuntamiento, orel Honorable Ayuntamiento[5]).Puerto Rican municipalities have alegislatura municipal. In Peru the termayuntamiento is never used; instead, it ismunicipalidad,consejo provincial orconsejo distrital (district council). Executive functions in most of these countries is handled by an executivealcalde, the mayor (not to be confused with the historicalcalde, who was amagistrate).
The municipio government usually calls itself theHonorable Ayuntamiento, abbreviated asH. Ayuntamiento.
