FOREIGN VOTES BEGIN TO FLEX THEIR MUSCLES

Edition 526

According to the local press, at the last count there were 55 political parties set to participate in the May 27th municipal elections - 25 of them in Marbella alone. And many of these new, usually very local, parties are supported by more foreigners than ever before. In addition to the millions of European tourists who have been flocking to Spain since 1960s, drawn by the beaches, sun and affordable fiesta lifestyle, there are now an estimated 1.5 million expats from the EU living permanently in Spain, mainly British and Germans. Most of them are concentrated on the Costa del Sol, the Costa Blanca around Valencia and Alicante, and in the Balearic Islands. EU residents have had the right to vote and stand as candidates in local elections for more than a decade now, but until recently they have been keeping relatively quiet. However, they are now entering the somewhat turbulent waters of local politics in a big way, and in some areas they form the backbone of new parties, some of which have more expats on their lists of candidates than locally-born Spaniards. More than 300,000 European residents in Spain have registered to cast their ballots this year. Political observers are now asking themselves if this could be the beginning of an expat political revolution. One expat now running with a new independent party said he thought the mushrooming of expat-dominated political parties was a result of a lot of issues coming to a head: dissatisfaction with the way towns are run and especially corruption in urban planning. The latter has had a very direct impact on many foreigners living in Spain. The on-going property scandal in Marbella is just one of the more notorious examples. Thousands of people who own houses, many recently constructed along the coast, are in danger of losing their homes to bulldozers because they were built illegally. And under the controversial "Land Grab" law in Valencia, hundreds of home-owning expats have been forced to pay thousands of euros in fees to local developers for improvements in local infrastructure. Swathes of coastline from the Strait of Gibraltar to Alicante are dominated by ugly, half-built developments and both Spaniards and expats are saying: "Enough is enough." There are other basic issues, of course, like the rising crime rate, a demand for more health centres and better public transport for the expat-dominated developments. But above all, a lot of non-Spaniards think - rightly or wrongly - that the country's established political parties are ignoring them. They have invested a lot of money in their local communities through house purchases and paying taxes, but their economic weight is not reflected in their political representation - until now, when even the established parties are beginning to woo the foreigners. Many foreign residents have been reluctant to get involved in local politics because they fear the Spanish may resent it. However, a recent poll carried out by a national newspaper found that around 60% think it's only fair that foreigners should be able to vote. One mayor said he is accustomed to having a large population of non-Spaniards and does not see anything remarkable about the rise of expat-dominated political parties: "It's a good thing that the Europeans here are involving themselves in political parties, it will be good for the whole society." Spaniards have lived through lots of political changes over the last three decades - a transition from dictatorship to democracy, and membership of the European Union - and most are taking this latest political development in their stride. However, some are a bit concerned about the Spanish language skills of some expats. As one Spaniard said: "It's a good thing having them involved in the local politics, but an English mayor who can't speak Spanish?" He shuddered.