Capital of Castile and León

The Spanish autonomous community of Castile and León does not have a legally established capital city.

Seat of the Cortes of Castile and León in Valladolid. The city has an official status as seat of the legislature, government and president.

High Court of Justice of Castile and León, Burgos. Several other provincial capitals in Castile and León host autonomous bodies.

The region's 1983 statute of autonomy did not name a capital. The articles referred only to the "seat of government", that could only be fixed with a two-thirds approval in the Cortes of Castile and León.^[1] In 1987, President of the Junta of Castile and León José María Aznar approved that the basic bodies of regional rule – the presidency, Junta and the Cortes – would be located in Valladolid.^[2]

One reason for the lack of the official capital is that the merger of Castile and León as one autonomous community caused uproar in the latter, which wanted to be separate. Other autonomous bodies are in the capitals of other provinces of the region. The High Court of Justice of Castile and León is in Burgos, the Court of Audits is in Palencia, the Advisory Council is in Zamora, the Ombudsman is in León.^[3]

In March 2009, the Junta of Castile and León apologised for school textbooks that named Valladolid as capital, saying that it was an honest confusion of its status as a seat.^[4] In February 2010, the People's Party in Valladolid City Hall rejected a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party proposal for the city to become the official capital, saying it could "provoke eight motions against it" from the other provincial capitals.^[5] In September 2019, José Antonio de Santiago Juárez of Valladolid's PP made a proposal of the same matter, which was opposed by the party leadership.^[3]

References

1. Vergara Pedreira, Susana (3 September 2019). "León se 'levanta': Valladolid no será capital de la Comunidad" [León 'rises up': Valladolid will not be the capital of the Community]. Diario de León (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 March 2021.
2. Felix, Lira (23 February 2019). "Castilla y León no tiene capital" [Castile and León has no capital]. La Crónica de Salamanca (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 March 2021.
3. Santamarta, Rubén (5 September 2019). "Castilla y León: dos reinos, pero ninguna capital" [Castile and León: two kingdoms, but no capital]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 March 2021.
4. "La Junta pide perdón por los libros de texto que hacen de Valladolid la capital" [The Junta apologises for textbooks that make Valladolid the capital]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 25 March 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
5. "El PP renuncia a solicitar la capitalidad para evitar conflictos entre provincias" [PP renounces plan to ask for capital status, in order to avoid conflict between provinces]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 1 February 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2021.

Further reading

• "Castellanos y Leoneses: "Castilla y León no tiene ni capital"" [Castilians and Leonese: "Castile and León doesn't even have a capital"]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 16 January 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2021.