Editorial: The expat vote

So why did only a handful of expats vote in the local elections last month? I would say it is a mixture of many things. There are still some non-Spanish European expats who have the old-fashioned view that Spain is for the Spanish and we should play no role in local affairs, especially voting in local elections. Now, obviously this is a very outdated view, which is almost a throwback from many years ago when expats believed that they should never put their head above the parapet. If you pay taxes in Spain or if you live legally in Spain then you should be able to vote. Ialso believe that we should be able to vote in Spanish general elections, because much of our tax money goes to Madrid but we have no say on how the country should be governed. I don´t think that you can blame the local political parties for not doing enough to court the expat vote. Various meetings were held aimed solely at foreign voters.  There was a degree of voter apathy and some foreign residents do not want to get involved, which is a shame. And obviously it wasn´t just the British. The Germans, the biggest foreign nationality living on the island, didn´t vote either. As I have said in this space on other occasions it always rather concerns me  the if foreigners do not vote they will not get the necessary attention from local parties. This has already proved to be the case. I would say that this election has been rather low-key when it comes to expat voting events. Local political parties are starting to lose interest in non-Spanish voters which is a great shame but unfortunately we are to blame.