Provincial deputation (Spain)

[3] The role of a provincial council is limited to:[4][5] Similar functions are exercised by the cabildos in the Canary and Balearic Islands.

Central grants represent 84% of the income of provincial councils; other sources of funds are insignificant.

[10] The deputies are elected from the general public by the municipal councillors (Spanish: concejales) that make up the province, not directly by the populace.

[13] This is because, indirectly elected, the deputies and office holders are in practice decided by the top officials in the larger political parties, the author says.

Spain has declared itself not bound to the full extent by the requirement for direct elections of all local authorities.

[15] A senior bureaucrat has claimed that provincial councils are a superfluous and unnecessary layer of government.