If the Central Government’s move goes ahead, 92% of the villages and small towns with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants will lose the control over certain services. The provincial councils will be tasked with providing them.

Spain has just over 8,000 municipalities, with just under 6,800 of them having 5,000 or fewer inhabitants. From the 1st of January, they will cease to manage their own rubbish collection, street cleaning, water supply, rain and sewage drainage, as well as pavement and access-road upkeep.

The Central Government justifies this drastic measure because such services managed on a municipal level are “inefficient,” as the Government considers that they pay up to three times more for the same service than a town over 100,000 inhabitant pays. According to their figures, it costs large towns 445 euros per person on average where as for towns under 5,000 it works out at 1,220 euros. Of course, the dispersion of the population in small rural municipalities has a lot to do with that.

The Central Government assures that providing the services through the provincial councils would work out cheaper for everybody, with the provincial councils charging the citizen directly. This measure would also mean that the Mancomunidades (local area councils), who function it was to provide mains water and drainage, will disappear.

It’s worth noting, however, that ‘by pure coincidence’ the majority of the small towns (rural communities) are run by socialist or small-party mayors, whereas the vast majority of provincial councils are run by conservative administrations. There had been a strong call for the suppression of the provincial councils but with this transfer of responsibility from the town councils to the provincial councils, it has given the provincial bodies the hitherto missing raison d’être. The Central Government, of course, denies that this would have any influence on their decision.

(News: Spain)