Sunday, May 27, 2007 - Local elections May 27th 2007

The local elections take place today, and regardless of who gets in it has been an interesting few weeks as apart from the normal canvassing and baby kissing each political party has its public meetings culminating in "party night" on the Friday before voting day (no canvassing is allowed on the Saturday, which is a day of reflection). This year there were considerably more meetings than previously as Benalmadena has grown in size and importance resulting in more candidates, so on Friday evening the public squares and open spaces were buzzing. Depending on the size and finances of the political party there were disc jockeys, big bands, and the ubiquitous electric organ entertaining the electorate. Free bars are obligatory as is some form of gastronomic give-away, once again the quantity and quality of the food and drink is dependant on the finances available. The major parties and financially supported "independents" being over generous and hoping to secure votes by satisfying the "inner man" There is also an abundance of other give-aways, windmills and balloons in party colours being favourites and ensuring that the whole family, including the tiniest of tots, attend the party. The amazing thing to me about this type of electioneering is that there are no "spoilers", no interference from the opposition, no barracking, just a general fiesta atmosphere. The devout stay with their own camp, while the undecided, thirsty or hungry circulate collecting information and whatever else is on offer, until the kegs of beer and portions of paella run out in the wee small hours. Being a British ex pat I can't help but think how this form of politics would work back in the UK. The voting system itself is of interest as you do not vote for individuals, but rather the whole package. Each party has main candidate who is the wannabe mayor with a supporting cast who are numbered in order of their standing. There is a printed list of the entire candidature provided for each party and the voter places the unmarked list in an envelope and into the ballot box. The party votes are counted and according to percentage gained the council is built from the mayor down. So if a party wins say 6 seats then numbers 1 - 6 on that parties list will get in. As foreigners resident in Spain you are allowed to vote as long as you are registered on the "padron" (see archives June 2005) and have recorded your intention to vote, which incidentally is the exactly the same procedure for the Spanish population. The sad thing is that much the same as in the UK apathy reigns and it is estimated that there are three to four times times as many foreigners as the 9,110 resident in Benalmadena who have registered on the "padron" and of those only 2,480 have recorded an intention to vote - but as I am one of them I am off to vote right now

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