AYUNTAMIENTO

ayuntamiento, the spanish name for the district over which a town council has administrative authority; it is used also for a town council, and for the town-hall. the word is derived from the latin _adjungere_, and originally meant "meeting." in some parts of spain and in spanish america the town council was called the _cabildo_ or chapter, from the latin _capitulum_. the ayuntamiento consisted of the official members, and of _regidores_ or _regulators_, who were chosen in varying proportions from the "hidalgos" or nobles (_hijos de algo_, sons of somebody) and the "pecheros," or commoners, who paid the _pecho_, or personal tax; pecho (lat. _pectus_) is in spanish the breast, and then by extension the person. the regidores of the ayuntamientos, or lay cabildos, were checked by the royal judge or _corregidor_, who was in fact the permanent chairman or president. the distinction between hidalgo and pechero has been abolished in modern spain, but the powers and the constitution of ayuntamientos have been subject to many modifications.