EDITORIAL

THIS is Spain, this is not our country. We will not be voting. I am afraid to say that this is the attitude of many British residents who have not grasped the full implications of the new Europe which Britain and other countries have signed up for. I don't think there is anything worse than people who don't vote and then spend the next four years criticising their council. The reason why we should all be voting is because many people fought long and hard to get us, the non-Spanish Europeans, the vote. Whatever your feelings about European Union once you left the White Cliffs of Dover you lost the right to be a so-called “little Englander” who hates everything European. We are living in Europe in a country which is a fully paid-up (or fully subsidised, depending on your political feelings) of the European Union. The days of keeping a low profile in Spain because we don't want to annoy our Spanish hosts are long gone. When I moved to Majorca in the middle 1970s there may have been a case for this claim but no longer. I call on all those 12'000 or so European Union expatriates to vote later this month because that way we will become more integrated in the local community. We've got the vote so let's use it. I receive dozens of phone calls every month from people moaning and groaning about their councils. The rates are far too high, there is no street lighting, there are holes in the road, etc, etc, these are very common complaints to the Bulletin. So my suggestion to all these people is simple, VOTE. I said in a Viewpoint a few weeks ago that it was a shame that we were unable to vote in the elections to decide who is going to run the local government. As you all know under the present legislation we are only able to vote in the council and European elections, not those for regional government or central government. But how can we seriously expect the Spanish authorities to take us seriously when we don't even bother to vote in our local council elections to decide who is going to be Mayor. Unless the Spanish authorities see that we are taking our new found voting rights seriously there is no way that our rights will be extended to include the other two elections. It's obvious the door has been opened for us and let's take advantage of it and go in and exercise our democratic rights. Forget the fact that the Conservative Party may have collected council seats in Britain or that Labour was punished by the voters in Britain over the Iraq war. They are Britain's local elections, our local elections are still to take place and the talking point should be local politics not what is happening in Britain because we live here. My admiration goes out to all those non-Spanish Europeans who have made an effort to get involved and we are more than happy at the Bulletin to help anyone who is unsure about the voting system and what the various parties stand for. These elections are a golden opportunity. For the second time in four years we can have our say. I know that many of you are not happy with the route Majorca is taking at the moment well then now is your chance to have your say. And your local newspaper will be there on Monday May 26 with a special election edition followed up by an election pull-out on May 27. We are taking this election seriously please follow our lead.