Comarques of Catalonia

The comarques of Catalonia (singular comarca, Eastern Catalan: [kuˈmarkə], Western Catalan: [koˈmaɾka]), often referred to in English as counties,^[1][2][3][a] are an administrative division of Catalonia. Each comarca comprises a number of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the United States. Currently, Catalonia is divided into 42 comarques and Aran, considered a "unique territorial entity" and not a comarca.^[4]

Each comarca has a representative county council (Catalan: consell comarcal), except for Barcelonès, which abolished it in 2019, and Aran, which instead has the Conselh Generau d'Aran.

Comarques form the second-level administrative division within Catalonia, being a subdivision of vegueries (or provinces at state level).

Comarques of Catalonia

Anoia Bages Segarra Solsonès Conca de Barberà Lluçanès Moianès Osona Berguedà Cerdanya Alt Urgell Pallars Sobirà Val d'Aran Alta Ribagorça Pallars Jussà Noguera Urgell Pla d'Urgell Segrià Garrigues Alt Penedès Baix Llobregat Barcelonès Vallès Occidental Maresme Vallès Oriental Ripollès Garrotxa Alt Empordà Pla de l'Estany Gironès Selva Baix Empordà Garraf Baix Penedès Tarragonès Alt Camp Baix Camp Priorat Ribera d'Ebre Terra Alta Baix Ebre Montsià Northern Catalonia/ Pyrénées-Orientales (France) France Andorra Aragon Valencia Mediterranean Sea

Overview

See also: Local government in Spain

Although today the comarques are officially defined under a Catalan parliamentary act,^[5] for centuries they had existed unofficially, with citizens identifying with a particular comarca in the same way that people in other parts of the world might identify with a particular region.

In some cases, comarques consist of rural areas and many small villages centring on an important town, where the people of the region traditionally go to shop or to sell their goods. This is the case of comarques such as the Pla de l'Estany, centred on the town of Banyoles, or the Ripollès, centred on the town of Ripoll. In other cases, comarques are larger areas with many important population centres that have traditionally been considered part of the same region, as in the case of the Empordà or Vallès.

The current official division of Catalonia into comarques originates in an order of the autonomous Catalan government under the Spanish Republic in 1936. It was superseded after the 1939 victory of Francisco Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War, but restored in 1987 by the re-established Generalitat of Catalonia. Since the definition of comarques is sometimes ambiguous, many new proposals have been made since the comarques were first officially designated as attempts to modify the official distribution with what some regions consider to be a traditional comarca. As a result, some revisions to the official division have been made, such as the additions of Moianès and Lluçanès to the map, in 2015 and 2023 respectively.

Comarques exist as a local government area, and have a representative county council. They are often known as counties in the English language, but this can be confused with the counties that were ruled by counts.

Borders of comarques generally do not cross those of the state-level provinces (Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, Tarragona), since the provinces are defined by the Spanish government, while comarques are defined by the Catalan government - notably in the case of Cerdanya which is split into two between the provinces of Lleida and Girona (most other cases involve only one or two municipalities).

Aran, which is included here, is officially not a comarca but a "unique territorial entity" with additional powers. Its current status was formalised in February 2015.^[4]

List of comarques

Comarca	Date created	Capital	Number of municipalities ^[needs update]	Population (2014)^[6]	Area (km^2)^[6]	Density	Region (vegueria)	Province(s)
Alt Camp	1987	Valls	23	44,578	538.2	82.8	Camp de Tarragona	Tarragona
Alt Empordà	1987	Figueres	68	140,214	1,357.4	103.3	Comarques Gironines	Girona
Alt Penedès	1987	Vilafranca del Penedès	27	106,262	592.7	179.3	Penedès	Barcelona
Alt Urgell	1987	La Seu d'Urgell	19	20,878	1,447.5	14.4	Alt Pirineu	Lleida
Alta Ribagorça	1988	El Pont de Suert	3	3,873	426.8	9.1	Alt Pirineu	Lleida
Anoia	1987	Igualada	33	117,842	866.3	136.0	Penedès, Central Catalonia	Barcelona
Aran	1987	Vielha e Mijaran	9	9,993	633.5	15.8	Aran	Lleida
Bages	1987	Manresa	30	175,527^[b]	1,092.2^[b]	160.7	Central Catalonia	Barcelona
Baix Camp	1987	Reus	28	190,249	697.3	272.8	Camp de Tarragona	Tarragona
Baix Ebre	1987	Tortosa	14	80,637	1002.6	80.4	Terres de l'Ebre	Tarragona
Baix Empordà	1987	La Bisbal d'Empordà	36	132,886	701.8	189.4	Comarques Gironines	Girona
Baix Llobregat	1987	Sant Feliu de Llobregat	30	806,249	486.2	1,658.3	Barcelona	Barcelona
Baix Penedès	1987	El Vendrell	14	100,262	296.4	338.3	Penedès	Tarragona
Barcelonès	1987	Barcelona	5	2,227,238	145.8	15,276.0	Barcelona	Barcelona
Berguedà	1987	Berga	31	40,039	1,185.3	33.8	Central Catalonia	Barcelona, Lleida
Cerdanya	1987	Puigcerdà	17	18,063	546.6	33.0	Alt Pirineu	Girona, Lleida
Conca de Barberà	1987	Montblanc	22	20,723	650.2	31.9	Camp de Tarragona	Tarragona
Garraf	1987	Vilanova i la Geltrú	6	145,886	185.1	788.1	Penedès	Barcelona
Garrigues	1987	Les Borges Blanques	24	19,762	797.7	24.8	Ponent	Lleida
Garrotxa	1987	Olot	21	56,036	734.5	76.3	Comarques Gironines	Girona
Gironès	1987	Girona	28	185,085	575.6	321.6	Comarques Gironines	Girona
Lluçanès	2023	Prats de Lluçanès	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	Central Catalonia	Barcelona
Maresme	1987	Mataró	30	437,919	398.6	1,098.6	Barcelona	Barcelona
Moianès	2015	Moià	10	13,056	337.9	38.6	Central Catalonia	Barcelona
Montsià	1987	Amposta	12	69,613	735.5	94.6	Terres de l'Ebre	Tarragona
Noguera	1987	Balaguer	30	39,376	1,784.1	22.1	Ponent	Lleida
Osona	1987	Vic	50	154,559^[b]	1,245.1^[b]	124.1	Central Catalonia	Barcelona, Girona
Pallars Jussà	1987	Tremp	14	13,530	1,343.2	10.1	Alt Pirineu	Lleida
Pallars Sobirà	1987	Sort	15	7,220	1,378.0	5.2	Alt Pirineu	Lleida
Pla de l'Estany	1988	Banyoles	11	31,554	262.8	120.1	Comarques Gironines	Girona
Pla d'Urgell	1988	Mollerussa	16	37,128	305.2	121.7	Ponent	Lleida
Priorat	1987	Falset	23	9,550	498.7	19.1	Camp de Tarragona	Tarragona
Ribera d'Ebre	1987	Móra d'Ebre	14	22,925	827.1	27.7	Terres de l'Ebre	Tarragona
Ripollès	1987	Ripoll	19	25,700	956.6	26.9	Comarques Gironines	Girona
Segarra	1987	Cervera	21	22,713	722.8	31.4	Ponent	Lleida
Segrià	1987	Lleida	38	209,768	1,396.4	150.2	Ponent	Lleida
Selva	1987	Santa Coloma de Farners	26	170,249	994.9	171.1	Comarques Gironines	Girona, Barcelona
Solsonès	1987	Solsona	15	13,497	1001.1	13.5	Central Catalonia	Lleida
Tarragonès	1987	Tarragona	22	250,306	319.2	784.2	Camp de Tarragona	Tarragona
Terra Alta	1987	Gandesa	12	12,119	743.0	16.3	Terres de l'Ebre	Tarragona
Urgell	1987	Tàrrega	20	36,526	579.6	63.0	Ponent	Lleida
Vallès Occidental	1987	Sabadell, Terrassa	23	899,532	583.1	1,542.7	Barcelona	Barcelona
Vallès Oriental	1987	Granollers	39	399,781^[b]	734.5^[b]	544.3	Barcelona	Barcelona
• Total: 43			948	7,518,903	32,108.0^[7]^[c]	234.2

Comarca revisions

Revisions to the comarques took place in 1988 (creation of Pla d'Estany, Pla d'Urgell, and Alta Ribagorça),^[8] 1990 (various adjustments),^[9] and May 2015 (creation of Moianès).^[10] The Catalan government's "Report on the revision of Catalonia's territorial organisation model" (the Roca Report [ca]), published in 2000, recommends many more changes to comarques, which have not yet been adopted except for the 2015 creation of Moianès.^[11] The other proposed new comarques are: Vall de Camprodon [ca] (capital at Camprodon), Selva Marítima [ca] (capital at Blanes), Alta Segarra [ca] (capital at Calaf), Segre Mitjà [ca] (capital at Ponts), and Baix Llobregat Nord [ca] (capital at Martorell).

In a non-binding referendum in July 2015, a majority of municipalities of the Lluçanès region of Osona voted to join a proposed new comarca of that name. It was finally added to the list of Comarques on the 3rd of May 2023. ^[12]

Date	From comarca	To comarca	Municipalities
1988	Gironès	Pla de l'Estany	Banyoles, Camós, Cornellà del Terri, Crespià, Esponellà, Fontcoberta, Palol de Revardit, Porqueres, Sant Miquel de Campmajor, Serinyà, Vilademuls
1988	Urgell	Pla d'Urgell	Barbens, Castellnou de Seana, Ivars d'Urgell, Vilanova de Bellpuig, Vila-sana
1988	Segrià	Pla d'Urgell	Bell-lloc d'Urgell, Fondarella, Golmés, Miralcamp, Mollerussa, El Palau d'Anglesola, Sidamon
1988	Noguera	Pla d'Urgell	Bellvís, Linyola, El Poal
1988	Garrigues	Pla d'Urgell	Torregrossa
1988	Pallars Jussà	Alta Ribagorça	Barruera (La Vall de Boí), El Pont de Suert, Vilaller
1990	Noguera	Segrià	Alfarràs, La Portella
1990	Priorat	Baix Camp	Arbolí
1990	Tarragonès	Baix Penedès	Bonastre
1990	Vallès Occidental	Vallès Oriental	Caldes de Montbui
1990	Garraf	Alt Penedès	Castellet i la Gornal, Olesa de Bonesvalls
1990	Barcelonès	Baix Llobregat	Esplugues de Llobregat, Sant Just Desvern
1990	Tarragonès	Alt Camp	Els Garidells
1990	Alt Camp	Baix Penedès	Masllorenç
1990	Anoia	Solsonès	La Molsosa
1990	Ripollès	Osona	Montesquiu, Santa Maria de Besora, Sant Quirze de Besora, Vidrà
1990	Urgell	Segarra	Montornès de Segarra
1990	Baix Ebre	Montsià	Sant Jaume d'Enveja
1990	Segarra	Conca de Barberà	Vallfogona de Riucorb
1994	-	Vallès Occidental	Badia del Vallès
2015	Bages	Moianès	Calders, L'Estany, Moià, Monistrol de Calders, Santa Maria d'Oló
2015	Vallès Oriental	Moianès	Castellcir, Castellterçol, Granera, Sant Quirze Safaja
2015	Osona	Moianès	Collsuspina
2015	-	Gironès	Medinyà
2017	Gironès	-	Medinyà†
2023	Segarra	Solsonès	Torà, Biosca
2023	Osona	Lluçanès	Alpens, Lluçà, Olost, Oristà, Perafita, Prats de Lluçanès, Sant Martí d'Albars, Sobremunt
2023	Bages	Lluçanès	Sant Feliu Sasserra
2023	Lluçanès	Bages	Sant Feliu Sasserra

Northern Catalan comarques

There are six comarques which are often referred to as the historical comarques of Catalonia, because their present-day territory was a part of the former Principality of Catalonia, but nowadays they lie in Northern Catalonia, administered by France.

Comarca	Capital
Alta Cerdanya	Font-romeu
Capcir	Els Angles
Conflent	Prada de Conflent
Fenouillèdes	Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet
Rosselló	Perpinyà
Vallespir	Ceret

See also

• Comarcas of Spain
• Local government in Spain
• Municipalities of Catalonia
• Provinces of Spain
• Vegueries of Catalonia

Footnotes

1. Not to be confused with the historical Catalan counties.
2. Adjusted following creation of Moianès
3. The total of the figures above is 32,107.1. The difference may be due to rounding.

References

1. "Idescat. Statistical Yearbook of Catalonia. County councils. Councillors. Counties". www.idescat.cat. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
2. "Festivals in southern Terres de l'Ebre counties form new group to increase visibility". www.catalannews.com. 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
3. "Coronavirus: Spain puts 200,000 people in Catalonia back into lockdown as cases rise". Sky News. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
4. "LLEI 1/2015, del 5 de febrer, del règim especial d'Aran" [Administration of Aran Act] (PDF) (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
5. "The comarcal organisation of Catalonia (Act 6/1987)" (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. 1987. pp. 12192–12201. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
6. "El municipi en xifres". Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
7. "Indicadors geogràfics. Superfície, densitat i entitats de població: Catalunya". Statistical Institute of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
8. "Llei 5/1988, de 28 de març, de creació de les comarques del Pla de l'Estany, del Pla d'Urgell i de l'Alta Ribagorça" (in Catalan). Generalitat de Catalunya. 1988-03-28. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
9. "Llei 3/1990, de 8 de gener, de modificació de la divisió comarcal de Catalunya" (in Catalan). Generalitat de Catalunya. 2015-05-25. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
10. "El Parlament aprova la llei de creació del Moianès amb els vots en contra de Ciutadans i l'abstenció del PP". La Vanguardia (in Catalan). 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
11. Miquel Roca i Junyent; et al. (December 2000). (PDF) (in Catalan). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-29.
12. Osona.com. "La llei del Lluçanès fa un pas endavant al Parlament de Catalunya". www.naciodigital.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2023-05-17.

External links

• (in Catalan) The Statistical Institute of Catalonia contains statistical information for Catalonia, with in-depth details for each individua comarca and other types of divisions. Link to the English version.
• (in Catalan) History of the current county division. Catalonia 2007-01-27 at the Wayback Machine, La Franja 2007-01-27 at the Wayback Machine and Northern Catalonia 2007-01-27 at the Wayback Machine.