Vila (Portugal)

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Vila ([ ˈwilɐ ], from Latin villa "country estate") is the name in Portugal for a municipality ( freguesia ) as a small town with a special settlement weight and with a minimum infrastructure. The right of a municipality to call itself a vila is granted by parliamentary resolution. The requirements for this are regulated in Law No. 11/82 of June 2, 1982. The granting of this right does not involve any administrative or functional change in the legal status of the municipality; it is limited to the titular right. Larger municipalities (from 8,000 residents entitled to vote), which also meet higher requirements for urban infrastructure, can be appointed cidade . Individual prerequisites, in particular the minimum size, can be waived if the community is of particular importance for other reasons, especially historical reasons. Several municipalities can also form a vila, but this would not change the legal status of the municipalities. There are 572 vilas in Portugal (as of 2010).

requirements

In principle, a municipality can only be appointed as a vila if it meets the following requirements:

  • the place must have at least 3,000 residents entitled to vote

and have at least half of the following public institutions:

Historical meaning

In Portuguese history, Vila was used to designate settlements which, in view of their size and weight, were more important than villages. They received a charter ( foral ) from the king or the landlord , which stipulated their own administrative rights as well as obligations to pay tribute. From this the vilas emerged as cities, mostly with self-government limited to their own affairs and their own lower jurisdiction. Under King Manuel I (1469–1521) between 1510 and 1515, the city charter was reorganized in large areas of Portugal and most of the vilas were given a new city statute. This is based on the fact that many old cities also have the name "Vila" as part of their name. Today, however, the position as a vila is no longer associated with any special rights.

The terms Vila (small town) and Cidade (city) are still used in some of the former Portuguese colonies, especially in Angola .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Law No. 11/82 of June 2, 1982, Regime de criação e extinção das autarquias locais e de designação e determinação da categoria das povoações - Law on the establishment and abolition of local bodies and the qualification and definition of settlement categories, page of the Portuguese government, loaded on February 26, 2010 (pdf), http://www.povt.qren.pt/tempfiles/20080213151143moptc.pdf ( Memento of March 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Portuguese)