AYIINTAMIENTO is the name given in Spain tO the councils or governing bodies of towns. Sprung from the institutions of the Romans, and firmly established during the tong struggles with the Moors, the ayuntamientos acquired great influence and politics:] power, the more so that the nobility were not excluded from them. Although this importance was impaired through the insurrection of Juan de Padilla in 1521; and at a later period, under the Bourbons, the last shadow of municipal freedom WiLS lost ; the remembrance of it continued to be cherished by the people. Accordingly, the cortes.of Cadiz, in 1812, took up the leading features of the former system. adapting them, by more democratic modifications, to therequirements of the time. On the return of Fer dinand `'II, the ayuntamientos were abolished; they were again restored by the cones, in 1823; and after the invasion by France. once more set aside. During the civil war, various proposals were made regarding tne ayuntamientos; but at last the arrangements of 1812 were confirmed by the constitution of 1837. According to that statute, the A., with the alcalde as president, is appointed by the free choice of the people, and is entitled to exercise the highest functions within the circle of its jurisdiction. The government
can provisionally annul its acts, but must afterwards procure the ratification of the tortes, by which alone an A. can be dissolved. The ayuntamientos are empowered to make up the lists of electors and jurors, to organize the national guards, to command the police within their own bounds, to direct the apportionment and raising of taxes, and to manage the funds of the commune. In 1840, a bill was brought into the tortes, formed on the model of the French law, proposing to deprive the ayuntamientos of all political power, and restrict their functions to purely municipal matters, and also to limit the franchise to the most highly taxed. But the insurrection which this step excited, and which ended in the expulsion of the queen, Maria Christina, prevented the project from being carried out. At last, in 1844, a law, similar to that proposed in 1840, was, through the intriguing of Christina, supported by French influence, adopted by the tortes, then composed of moderados; and this law, with little alteration, continues in force to the present day.