Administrative Divisions of Portugal - Subdivisions

Subdivisions

It was in 1976 (with the establishment of the democratic constitution) that the fragmentation of Portugal into the system that exists today began. There have been various political attempts to reorganize the system to reflect a practical and logical rationale based on economic, cultural and demographic realities. The most recent attempt, a process of regionalization, proposed by Socialist Prime Minister António Guterres was defeated in a referendum on 8 November 1998.

The division of the Portuguese territory is established in title eight (Título VIII) of the Portuguese constitution: granting local authority to territorial collectivities with representative organs to affect the interests of the local populations. These collectivities are defined as regions,municipalities and civil parishes, but reserves the right of urban areas and islands to establish other forms of local authority. In defining the rights and privileges of these entities, the constitution also defines sources of income, that includes local heritage, budgets and equalization transfers from the State, in addition to defining the basic role of local government at each level.

In 2011, after more than two weeks of bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission, the Portuguese government was obliged to reduce the number of municipal and parish local governments after July 2012. It was determined that these changes would then be formalized before the 2013 local government elections, as part of a process to reduce expenditures, a condition of the $110 Billion accord.