What does the ayuntamiento do?

What does the ayuntamiento do?

Ayuntamiento (Spanish pronunciation: [aʝuntaˈmjento]) is the general term for the town council, or cabildo, of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin America, for the municipality itself. …

Who were the people in the ayuntamiento?

Its size varied and was generally based on the population of the town. The council members consisted of the alcalde, who served as president, a varying number of regidors (see REGIDOR) or councilmen, and a síndico procurador, the equivalent of a city attorney.

What is ayuntamiento and who is its head?

Each province is divided into municipalities, which are governed by municipal councils (ayuntamientos), with an alcalde, or mayor, at the head of each ayuntamiento.

Who is the head of ayuntamiento?

From the 19th century the alcalde had the dual character of leader of the local council (ayuntamiento) and representative of the central government. His duties became mainly administrative with scarcely any judicial functions. Alcaldes de hermandad were minor municipal officials with police and judicial powers.

What does Ayuntamiento mean in history?

1 : the municipal council or governing body of a town or city in Spain or the former Spanish colonies. 2 : a town hall in Spain or the former Spanish colonies.

What is Ayuntamiento or Cabildo?

A cabildo (Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈβildo]) or ayuntamiento (Spanish: [aʝuntaˈmjento]) was a Spanish colonial, and early post-colonial, administrative council which governed a municipality. The colonial cabildo was essentially the same as the one developed in medieval Castile.

What is the meaning of Ayuntamiento?

Definition of ayuntamiento 1 : the municipal council or governing body of a town or city in Spain or the former Spanish colonies. 2 : a town hall in Spain or the former Spanish colonies.

What was the head of an Alcaldia called?

Alcalde mayor, the chief administrator of a territorial unit known as an alcaldía mayor. Alcaldías mayores were provincial units of varying size and significance. The term was used most frequently in New Spain, where there were about two hundred of these units in the 1780s.

How do you say Ayuntamiento?

noun, plural a·yun·ta·mien·tos [ah-yoon-tah-myen-taws].

What is the role of Cabildo?

The cabildo was in charge of all ordinary aspects of municipal government—e.g., policing, sanitation, taxation, the supervision of building, price and wage regulation, and the administration of justice.

Who headed Alcaldias?

A woman who holds the office is termed an Alcaldesa. In New Spain (Mexico), alcaldes mayores were chief administrators in colonial-era administrative territories termed alcaldías mayores; in colonial-era Peru the units were called corregimientos.

What is the dictionary definition of ayuntamiento?

Definition of ayuntamiento. 1 : the municipal council or governing body of a town or city in Spain or the former Spanish colonies. 2 : a town hall in Spain or the former Spanish colonies. You must — there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one that’s only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

What are other names for ayuntamiento in Latin America?

Other names for ayuntamiento have been casa de cabildo, casa capitular, casa consistorial and casa del concejo. In Latin America several terms exist for the legislative bodies of municipalities. The term consejo is used in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Peru.

Which is the correct spelling Cabildo or ayuntamiento?

For a discussion of the historic ayuntamiento, see Cabildo (council). Ayuntamiento ( Spanish pronunciation: [aʝuntaˈmjento]) is the general term for the town council, or cabildo, of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin America, for the municipality itself.

What was the role of the ayuntamiento in New Spain?

With the eighteenth-century Bourbon Reforms in New Spain, which created intendancies and weakened the power of the viceroy, the ayuntamientos “became the institution representing the interests of the local and regional oligarchical groups then setting deep roots into their territories.”