P.R. Laws tit. 21, § 4006
The suppression and consolidation of municipalities shall be performed pursuant to Section I of Article VI of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and by the law approved for such purposes.
In addition to complying with the above stated constitutional requirements, every law to suppress or consolidate municipalities shall take into account the population, geographic, and economic criteria, and whether said measure shall serve to manage the administration and rendering of public services of a municipal nature with greater efficiency.
When two (2) or more municipalities are consolidated into one (1), they shall be dissolved as a matter of law and the organization of the new municipality shall proceed pursuant to its enabling act and to the provisions of this subtitle.
When a municipality is suppressed, its territory and assets shall be annexed to the abutting municipality or municipalities. The municipality or municipalities favored by said annexation shall be reorganized in accordance with the provisions of the act that provides for the suppression of the municipality in question, and in the manner provided by this subtitle.
The annexation of a part of the territory of one municipality to another shall only be conducted as authorized by the law to such effects, and when the social and economic circumstances and the rendering of municipal services advise it.
When part of the territory of one municipality is incorporated to another, all the assets of the municipality thus affected that are located on the portion of the annexed territory shall then belong to the latter, as a matter of law.
Any controversy on territorial limits between the municipalities shall be submitted before the Court of First Instance corresponding to the judicial district where they are located. When different judicial districts are involved, the controversy may be presented in any of said judicial districts. The municipality affected by the decision of the Court of First Instance may resort to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico within thirty (30) days from the date of notice thereof.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, § 1.008; Sept. 7, 2004, No. 258, § 6.