Who runs local government in El Salvador?
El Salvador merged its 262 municipalities into 44 under the Special Law for Municipal Restructuring (Decree 762 of June 2023). The old municipalities became 'municipal districts' within the new ones, and the first councils for the 44 municipalities were elected in March 2024. Each municipality is run by an elected council; the 14 departments have governors named by the president.
Republic of El Salvador · Unitary presidential republic · Central America
The levels of government below the nation
| Level | How it is chosen | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Departments (14) | Governor appointed by the president | Represents the executive; no political power of its own. |
| Municipalities (44 since 2024; 262 before) | Municipal council of mayor, síndico and councillors, elected for three years | Local roads, street lighting, waste, markets, local development (Municipal Code 1986). |
| Municipal districts (262, the former municipalities) | Not separately elected; administered by the municipality | Keep the old names and boundaries for administration and service delivery. |
| Cantons (cantones) and hamlets (caseríos) | Not elected | Rural subdivisions of municipal territory. |
Three questions about local power in El Salvador
Are local leaders elected?
Municipal councils are elected for three years. Departmental governors are appointed. District-level officials are appointed by the municipality. ADESCO boards are elected by members.
Which laws set up local government?
Municipal autonomy is in Article 203 of the Constitution; the 44 municipalities and 262 districts were set by Decree 762 (2023). ADESCOs are formal under the Municipal Code. Cofradías and gang control are informal.
Who are local leaders accountable to?
Voters, the Court of Accounts and the courts. Because the Legislative Assembly can redraw the municipal map by ordinary law, local units have limited protection against central decisions.
Traditional and customary authority
Indigenous peoples (Nahua-Pipil, Lenca and Cacaopera) were recognised in a 2014 constitutional amendment, but there are few formal indigenous authorities. Some communities keep traditional leaders and religious brotherhoods (cofradías), which organise festivals and community life without legal powers. The Catholic and evangelical churches have strong social influence but no governing role.
Community and neighbourhood power
Community development associations (ADESCOs), registered with municipalities under the Municipal Code, are the main legal neighbourhood bodies; they run small projects and speak for residents. For many years street gangs (maras) controlled daily life in many neighbourhoods. Since March 2022 a state of emergency has suspended some constitutional rights while the government carries out mass arrests of suspected gang members, which has changed who holds informal power in those areas.
Points to know
- The merger meant many towns lost their own mayor: a former municipality is now a district run from a larger municipal seat.
- International IDEA notes that critics argued the process, more than the reduction itself, was constitutionally questionable.
- In 2021 the government centralised municipal infrastructure investment in a new national body, the Department of Municipal Public Works (DOM), reducing municipalities' role in building projects.
- Municipal elections used to be every three years together with legislative elections.
Local terms
- Distrito municipal
- Since 2024, a former municipality that is now a district inside one of the 44 larger municipalities.
- ADESCO
- Community development association: a registered neighbourhood body that runs local projects.
Sources
- El Salvador (data to 2021, before the 2023–24 municipal reform): country profile (SNG-WOFI), OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment, checked 14 October 2026
- El Salvador's Constitution of 1983 (rev. 2014), Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026
- Documentos legislativos publicados en junio de 2023 (lists Decreto Legislativo 762, Ley Especial para la Reestructuración Municipal), Centro de Documentación Judicial, Corte Suprema de Justicia de El Salvador, checked 14 October 2026
- Estudio constitucional de las reformas electorales en El Salvador (July 2023), International IDEA, checked 14 October 2026
See also: El Salvador's official statistics and leaders · the 10 levels of power.