Editing Alcalde (section)

== The classic ''cabildo'', fifteenth to nineteenth centuries ==
By the end of the fourteenth century the definite form of the Castilian municipal council, the ''ayuntamiento'' or ''[[Cabildo (council)|cabildo]]'', had been established. The council was limited to a maximum of twenty-four members (''regidores''), who may be appointed for life by the crown, hold the office as an inherited possession or be elected by the citizens (''[[vecino]]s'') of the municipality. (Many ''cabildos'' had a mix of these different types of ''regidores''.) The number of magistrates, now definitely called ''alcaldes'', was limited to one or two, depending on the size of the city and who were elected annually by the ''regidores''. To ensure control over ''cabildos'', the Castilian monarchs often appointed a ''corregidor'', who took over the role of the presiding officer of the council. The ''cabildo'' was taken to the Americas and Philippines by the Spanish [[conquistador]]s. Towns and villages in the Americas with the right to a council (''villas'' and ''lugares'' in the ''Recopilación de las [[Laws of the Indies|Leyes de Indias]]'', 1680) had one ''alcalde''. Cities (''ciudades'') had two, which was the maximum number anywhere. Early in the conquest, [[adelantado]]s had the right to appoint the ''alcaldes'' in the districts they settled, if they could attract the legally specified number of settlers to the area. This right could be inherited for one generation, after which the right of election returned to the municipal council.