Provincial Deputation
American Provinces of Spain in 1800
Number	20 (1812)

TheDiputación Provincial,Spanish forProvincial Deputation, was a type of institution created by theSpanish Constitution of 1812 to provide a representation of the territorial divisions of bothSpain and theHispanic American territories of theSpanish Empire, during the term of theCortes of Cádiz. The Cortes created new structures forhome rule, the provincial deputations and the constitutionalayuntamientos (local governments). The provincial deputations were a way by which regions ruled byjuntas and areas in rebellion in the Americas could keep local control, but maintain their ties to the largerSpanish Empire.^[1]

The term "province" in America had an imprecise meaning. The American deputies with the word referred to the smallprovince (Partido), while the European deputies did with great province (kingdom,viceroyalty). The Spanish courts identified province withIntendancy. Previously, the decree of theSupreme Central Junta defined the American territories not as colonies, but as an integral part of the Hispanic Monarchy.

With the constitution and the creation of provincial deputations, the Cortes abolished the viceroyalties; the provincial deputations dealt directly with the government in Spain.^[2] The province was governed by aJefe Político (political chief) appointed by the central government, and a seven-memberDiputación Provincial (provincial council), popularly elected. With theabsolutist restoration in Spain in 1814 and 1823, the provinces as political entities disappeared and their territories were again included in the restoredviceroyalties. However, by 1825 all butCuba,Puerto Rico, and thePhilippines remained of The Indies, following theSpanish American wars of independence.

A commission of American deputies subsequently presented its opinion on May 1, 1812, to have the number of American provinces described in theSpanish Constitution of 1812 raised to twenty. This was approved by the Cortes. Later, the American deputies demanded an even greater subdivision, and after the installation of theTrienio Liberal in 1820, the Spanish Cortes agreed in their decree of May 9, 1821, to convert all intendancies into provinces. However, these provinces were merely nominal, since many of the territories were part of the new independent Spanish-American states. In any case, all the provinces were directly dependent on Madrid, autonomous and without any institutional relationship among themselves.^[3] The province was subdivided into partidos, governed byJefes Políticos Subalternos (sub-level political chief).

• Cortes of Cádiz
• Spanish Constitution of 1812
• National sovereignty
• Liberalism

• Berry, Charles R. "The Election of Mexican Deputies to the Spanish Cortes, 1810-1822", inMexico and the Spanish Cortes, 1810-1822,Nettie Lee Benson, ed. University of Texas Press 1971, pp. 10-42.
• Rieu-Millan, Marie Laure.Los diputatods americanos en las Cortes de Cádiz. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1990.
• Municipios y provincias: historia de la organización territorial española

• Spanish colonization of the Americas