Castilla-La Mancha, sometimes written in English as Castile-La Mancha, is a south-western European region that was part of the Kingdom of Castile and one of the seventeen autonomous communities of modern Spain. It is bordered by Castile and Lion, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia and Extremadura. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain's autonomous communities.
Albacete is the largest and most populous city. Its capital city is Toledo, and its judicial capital city is Albacete. Castile-La Mancha was formerly grouped with the province of Madrid into New Castile (Castilla La Nueva), but with the advent of the modern Spanish system of autonomous regions (Estado de las autonomías), it was separated due to great demographic disparity between the capital and remaining New-Castilian provinces.
Also, distinct from the former New Castile, Castile-La Mancha added the province of Albacete, which had been part of Murcia; adding Albacete placed all of the historic region of La Mancha within this single region. Article 8 of the Statute of Autonomy states that the powers of the region are exercised through the Junta of Communities of Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM). Organs of the Junta are the Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha, the President of the Junta and the Council of Government.
The Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha represent the popular will through 33 deputies elected by universal adult suffrage through the secret ballot. They are elected for a term of four years under a proportional system intended to guarantee representation to the various territorial zones of Castilla-La Mancha. The electoral constituency is at the level of each province, with provinces being assigned the following number of deputies as of 2009; Albacete 6, Ciudad Real 8, Cuenca, 5, Guadalajara 5 and Toledo 9.
Article 10 of the Statute of Autonomy states that elections will be convoked by the President of the Junta of Communities, following the general, following the General Electoral Regime (Régimen Electoral General), on the fourth Sunday in May every four years. This stands in contrast to the autonomous communities of the Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, Andalusia and the Valencian Community where the president has the power to the convoke elections at any time. (In the Valencian Community that power has never been exsercised. Elections there have, in practice, taken place on a four year cycle).
Since the Spanish regional elections of 2015, the Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha has consisted of 16 deputies from the conservative People's Party, 15 from the socialist PSOE and 2 from the left-wing Podemos. The Cortes sits in the former Franciscan convent in Toledo, the Edificio de San Gil. About the Council of Government we must say that it is the collegial executive organ of the region. It directs regional political and administrative action, excercises and executive function and regulatory powers under the Spanish Constitution of 1978, the Statute of Autonomy, and the laws of the nation and region. The Council of Government consist of the president, vice president (if any) and the Councilors.
