Brits' missed opportunity
Residents are failing to exercise their democratic right
MANY British residents in Alicante province showed little interest in voting in the last local and European elections in May 2015, according to the figures sent to Costa Blanca News from the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Although British people form the largest European community in the province, the number of residents registered to vote only exceed 50% in Teulada, San Fulgencio and Torrevieja.
The most striking figures are in Orihuela Costa, which has the largest British community in Spain with 13,503 registered expats.
However, only 3,739 of them (27.6%) registered their right to vote in the last local and European elections.
A similar situation could be seen in Rojales, where out of 6,665 legal residents only 1,892 opted to register to vote (28.3%).
In Pilar de la Horadada nearly 34% of Britons on the municipal register signed up to vote – and in Benidorm and Jávea it was 32.5% and 47% respectively – with Torrevieja faring better with 53% of the registered population of 5,995.
These figures contrast with the massive interest generated in Teulada.
The town in the north of Alicante province had 2,408 registered British residents in 2015 and 84.5% had signed on the electoral census. In the Vega Baja, the largest interest in local and European politics was signalled in San Fulgencio.
According to the INE figures the town had 3,781 registered British residents and 64.7% of them signed on the electoral census to vote in 2015.
The British Embassy and national, regional and local authorities launched a campaign at the end of 2018 to encourage British expats to join the electoral census before the end of January 2019.
On January 21 the Spanish and the British governments signed an agreement to guarantee the right to vote for their expats in the municipal elections in Spain and the UK.
In Orihuela Costa local political parties and residents’ associations have been urging Britons to register, while highlighting ‘no vote, no voice’.
The effectiveness of these campaigns will be revealed by the end of March when the INE figures for the 2019 elections in May will be available.