and French immigrants to Merlo, contributing with a highly qualified working force. There was also a small British community constituted mainly by white collar workers, employed in the British railway companies. By the late 19th century many rural settlements were dispersed throughout the countryside, thriving along the rail tracks. The railway prompted the accelerated development of Merlo in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; San Antonio de Padua, Mariano Acosta, Libertad and even Merlo city grew as railway towns. Merlo was a countryside district until the late 1940s. People from Buenos Aires spent their weekend and summer getaways in cottages, picnicking at the Reconquista riverside, playing golf at the Ituzaingó Golf Club and gliding at the Club Albatros and Club Cóndor gliding clubs. The landscape was spattered with estancias and farms. During the first half of the 20th century the two mayor political forces in the district were the Radical Civic Union and the Conservative Party of Buenos Aires. Merlo becomes part of Greater Buenos Aires In the second half of the 20th century Merlo experienced an important influx of immigrants from the provinces. Between 1947 and 1960 the district quintuplicates its population, initiating a rapid process of urbanization and incorporating Merlo into the Greater Buenos Aires. This period coincided with the rise of the Peronism in Argentina and since then the district becomes a Peronist stronghold. Cities According to the legislation of Buenos Aires, the status of city should be declared by law. The town must have a minimal population and a determined infrastructure. The partido has six cities. Government The mayor until 2015 was Raúl Alfredo Othacehé, a lawyer and local peronist politician. He was elected mayor in 1991 and reelected in 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007. In María O'Donnell's non-fiction book El Aparato (The Political Machine) an entire chapter is dedicated to Othacehé, portraying him as a corrupt politician. The Council is controlled by the peronist party and its allies. Economy According to the 1993 National Economic Census the manufacture industry represented 50.2% of the local economy. The transnational groups Philip Morris and Pirelli have a cigarette plant and a tire plant —respectively— in the industrial park, at the surroundings of Merlo railway station. Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles 10.32%; transport, storage and communication 5%; financial intermediation, real estate and renting 13.72%. The agriculture and livestock industry only represented 0.15% of the economy.