Alcalde

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For other uses, see Alcalde (disambiguation).

Maya alcaldes from Upper Guatemala in 1891.

Alcalde (IPA: /ælˈkældi/; Spanish pronunciation: [alˈkalde]; from Portuguese Alcaide) is the Spanish and formerly Portuguese title of the chief administrator of a town. An alcalde's duties usually included both judicial and administrative functions. The Spanish title derives from the Andalusi Arabic al-qadi ( قاضي,), meaning "the judge." The Portuguese word comes from al caïd, (قاضى), Arab word for "the chief" or "the military governor" of the castle (al caïda, Arab word for the castle or the base).

Both the title and the combination of judicial and administrative functions are indicative of a continuity of town structures in Spain from the Moorish time to the present, despite the change of religion and culture through the reconquista. The word has also been used for other positions, such as the alcaldes de crimen in the overseas audiencias.

In modern Spain, it is just the equivalent to a mayor. In the autonomous Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla, their alcaldes-presidentes have greater powers than their peninsular colleagues.

This title has been in use in the United States, for example in San Francisco, California (Surocco v. Geary, Supreme Court of California, 3 Cal. 69, 58 Am.Dec. 385, "Geary, at that time Alcalde of San Francisco...").

Stephen Johnson Field, later an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, once served as alcalde of the town of Marysville, California.

In Texas, the position of county judge was based on that of the alcalde which had existed prior to the Texas Revolution. Like the alcaldes before them, county judges under the Texas Constitution wield both judicial and chief executive functions. Although in larger counties today the county judge usually functions solely as county chief executive, in smaller counties, the role of the county judge continues many of the combined judicial and administrative functions of the alcalde.