Focus on local elections
THE MUNCIPAL and regional elections will take place in Spain on Sunday May 24.
Residents of other EU countries who have signed on the local register (padrón) and expressed their wish to vote will be on the electoral roll (censo electoral) and thus able to have their say in the local elections only.
Over the next weeks Costa Blanca News reporters will be interviewing candidates for the local elections.
The coverage starts this week with Finestrat followed by Altea, Dénia and Jalón (April 17), Benidorm, Alfaz del Pi and Pedreguer (April 24), Teulada and Benitachell (May 1), La Nucía, Benissa and Calpe (May 8), Jávea, Orba and Gata de Gorgos (May 15) and Llíber, Parcent, Ondara and Pego (May 22).
The candidates from the main political parties will all be asked to respond to the same questions so readers can draw their own conclusions from the answers.
Due to space restrictions there will be approximately three questions. We are inviting readers to send in a brief question over an issue in their municipality. CBNews will then select one or more of these to include in the interviews. Questions can be sent to jparkes@cbnews.es
The May 24 election is set to offer more choice to voters than ever before, with new political formations bursting onto the national stage - and others being formed at municipal and regional level.
Expats may not recognise some of the names appearing on the ballot paper.
Two of the parties challenging the hegemony of the big two - the Partido Popular (PP) and Socialist party (PSOE) - are the left-leaning, 'people power' formation Podemos and the centre-right Ciudadanos.
However, it is not yet clear if they will be presenting candidates in all municipalities, with the deadline being April 15.
Leaders of Podemos have stated that many of their sympathisers are forming citizens' collectives which will appear under names such as Si se Puede (Yes we can) or Guanyem (Let's win).
Other smaller parties are likely to form coalitions in some municipalities.
More information will be offered with the interviews.
WHO CAN VOTE
Citizens of any EU country can vote in the local elections, plus those belonging to countries that have bilateral agreements to this effect signed with Madrid, namely: Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Ecuador, Iceland, Norway, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.
Padrón figures issued on January 1, 2014 set the registered expat population in Alicante province at 385.225 (of whom over 93,000 were British nationals).
Although not all are entitled to vote, as mentioned earlier, Alicante is the Spanish province where more foreign residents have the right to vote on May 24.
Over 3.5 million people will be entitled to vote in the Valencia region.
jparkes@cbnews.es
Foreign residents voting in the 2011 local elections
By James Parkes
