No more municipal votes for the British

Jason Moore26/07/2016 00:00

The British pullout from the European Union has plenty of interesting and unique points, especially when it comes to British residents abroad. The British exit could mean that thousands of British citizens lose the vote in the next local elections, which could alter the political map of Majorca, especially in places like Calvia. It is a well-known fact that the no-show from foreign voters, especially Britons, at the local elections last year, effectively gave victory to the socialists. If British voters had turned out in the numbers seen in previous local elections in Calvia the result may have been very different.

I am not saying that British voters are of vital importance to the local political system but they can make a difference especially in municipalities like Calvia or Andratx. It is highly unlikely that British citizens will be able to vote in the next local elections, so effectively the days when local political parties tried to court the British vote are over. The biggest losers from this state of affairs will be the centre-right Partido Popular. The majority of British residents usually voted for the PP and this helped give the party two important victories in Calvia - nine and five years ago. At the last local elections there was a deal of voter apathy which meant that the Brits didn´t vote. So our voting days appear to be numbered. I feel it is a big shame because we have made Majorca our home and we should be able to have a voice.

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Ron | over 8 years ago

It would seem pretty unfair if this was to happen. All European nationals in UK would have to be reciprocally taken off the voter's roll. We are on the empadron lists for town halls here because we contribute by paying rates, as do Europeans in UK. Seems unlikely that us residents would all be stopped from voting in local elections. A lot of work needed to determine nationality! Of course we would not be able to vote for the European Parliament, although I'm sure not many of us Brits here did anyway!

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