A GREAT CHANCE

WITH local political parties going into full election campaign over the coming weeks perhaps now is the time to raise the controversial issue of our green certificates; the useless piece of paper which replaced our residence cards. After living with the certificate for the last two years, I will safely say that any party which will do its best to rid me of the certificate will get my vote!

Over the last two years there have been many campaigns calling for the government´s decision to be revoked and the residence card re-introduced. Unfortunately, they have not been successful but I now see a new window of opportunity! In some areas of Majorca, the foreign electorate accounts for 40 percent of the population and the majority are Europeans who can vote in the local elections. So, calling all political parties if you want a real vote winner think green certificate. I think the European expatriate community is rather sceptical about voting because in many cases they don´t really understand the policies. However, if one of the main parties who are standing for election gave the electorate a real reason to vote then I suspect that the turnout would be high. It is probably the biggest problem facing the local European expatriate community at the moment.