Provinces of Spain

Formerly of greater importance, since the arrival of the autonomous community system the provinces have had fewer powers. They are still used as electoral districts, in postal addresses, and as geographical referents. (A small town would be identified as being in Valladolid province sooner than as being in Castile-Leon, for example.)

Most of the provinces are named after their principal town. There are only two cities that are capitals of autonomous communities without being capitals of provinces: Mérida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.

Seven autonomous communities are composed of only one province: Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarre.

The table below lists the provinces of Spain. For each, the capital city is given, along with the autonomous community it is a part of, and a link to a list of municipalities in the province.

See also