ELECTION TIME

I was rather surprised to read yesterday that of the 15'000 registered voters in Calvia, 5'000 are either British or German. This is quite amazing and perhaps non-Spaniards should have greater prominence on the list of candidates which have been submitted by the parties standing for election in the municipality. Just to put the figure in perspective if an Anglo-German party was created and all people of these nationalities voted then it would probably be the second most powerful party on the council.

Undoubtedly the foreign vote could prove vital in many municipalities on the island from Calvia and Andratx to Pollensa and Alcudia. If all foreigners who were entitled to vote did so then the political landscape in the Balearics could be very different. Initial estimates suggest that barely 50 percent of foreigners, entitled to vote will do so, which is a great shame. The next step is obviously the general elections. At the moment non-Spanish Europeans can only vote in European and council elections.

There are widespread calls for our voting powers to be extended to include general elections also. However, if there is a low turn-out by foreigners at the next local elections then we can´t really demand the vote in general elections.