La alteración de términos municipales en La Rioja y la defensa de la autonomía local : consideraciones a partir de la segregación del exclave de Somalo

Abstract

The paper uses the case of «Somalo» landscape segregation from the municipality of Torremontalbo, and its aggregation to Uruñuela (both in La Rioja), to analyze the system of alteration of municipal boundaries in La Rioja's Local Law regime. The requirement of regional law as culmination of any alteration procedure is specially considered, in order to evaluate the peculiar character of such «segregation laws» and its admissibility into the Spanish constitutional system. By this special feature of La Rioja's Local Law regime, the case owns an interest that transcends a regional scope, and it is connected to relevant constitutional problems, such as the concept of local autonomy and possibilities of its jurisdictional protection. Actually, the referral of the dispute between Torremontalbo and Uruñuela to the Constitutional Court and its admissibility declaration, seems to open new perspectives on the «conflict in defense of local autonomy».