Editorial: Changing times

FULL marks to the campaign in Britain at the moment which could give all British expats the vote at the next general election but if I was honest the place I would like to vote in, is Spain. I suspect that the majority of expatriates living in this country would like nothing better than to be able to vote in the general election in Spain. While Britain may be the country of their birth, Spain is their home and there are plenty of reasons for wanting the vote in Spain at the moment, ranging from corruption to the state of the economy. At the moment non-Spaniards from European Union countries can only vote in council and European elections. We can´t vote in the Balearic government elections or the general election. This is quite amazing when you consider that Spain is a fully paid up member of the European Union which preaches equal rights to all from member states. Voting in council elections is one thing but being able to vote for the next Prime Minister is something else. One of the reasons put forward to change the voting law in Britain and abolish the 15 year rule is that all British government decisions do affect expatriates. And this is true. But obviously all decisions taken by the Spanish government affect us directly on our home turf. I would applaud the Conservative Party in Britain if they used their political power to appeal to the Spanish government to change the law. Spain is home and I want the vote at home.