Elections? What elections?

Plastered everywhere

ANDALUCÍA Yes, two autonomous regions, Asturias and Andalucía,  are holding elections on Sunday, March 25. to elect who will run the Junta de Andalucía. Favourite so far is the Partido Popular, by quite a margin. This is the seventh try for PP Secretary General for Andalucía, Javier Arenas, whose tenacity may be rewarded at last. The PSOE has governed Andalucía since the advent of post-Franco democracy and has always considered this region its bailiwick, but it is enmeshed in a series of corruption cases -especially those involving the ERE scandal of misuse of redundancy notice monies- as well as its lack of cohesion during the party's recent internal elections. But, you ask, are EuroExPats (there's a new noun being born!) allowed to vote, like in municipal or local elections? Short answer: No - which is why we haven't been covering the subject a lot (at all).

PP landslide sinks PSOE

SPAIN The Popular Party lead by Mariano Rajoy swept into power at yesterday's General Elections in an unprecedented landslide. Only a few provinces, including Sevilla, went to another party. On the map, the red is for PSOE and the orange, for CiU (Convergencia i Unió), the Catalan nationalists. Blue is for PP, which managed to obtain almost 45% of the total vote against a mere 28.73% for PSOE. Or, 186 seats against 110 in a chamber total of 350. That is a very comfortable absolute majority, so no need for coalitions or pacts and agreements. Also noticeable is that several minority parties, including IU, Amaiur (Basque Nationalists) and UPyD increased their seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In the Senate, the PP humiliated their Socialist rivals: 136 seats v. 49, from a total of 208.

National election campaigns begin tonight

Candidates Rajoy (l.) and Rubalcaba

SPAIN The official election campaign gets under way at midnight tonight, although in fact it has been going on for months. The truth is that the PP has them won for some time. The PSOE Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero leaves a record 5 million unemployed and the economy in chaos and polls show that Mariano Rajoy, 56, the PP candidate for President of the Government (the official title for what is otherwise a Prime Minister), leads by anything between 12 and 16 points, depending on who pays the pollster. Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, 60, the PSOE candidate, has little chance of success, even with the announcement that the Basque terrorists of ETA have declared a ceasefire, a negotiation instigated by him when he was Minister of the Interior.>>>

National elections called for November 20

(Photo: Europa Sur)

SPAIN (Agencies) Premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced yesterday that he was calling early national elections on November 20th, so that the next Government can take charge of the 2012 financial year and therefore "project political and financial stability over the next few months." Zapatero made the announcement at a press conference after the Ministers Council held every Friday. He pointed out that this would leave enough time to approve and set into place the laws and financial reforms that are in their 'final phase'. The news is not surprising, as the present Government is in what opposition leader Mariano Rajoy has called 'crepuscular' - or to put it even more cruelly: in its death throes. As to regional elections in Andalucía, traditionally held at the same time as the national polls, Zapatero said that it was the President of Andalucía, José Antonio Griñán, who must make that decision. At a party meeting on Monday, Griñán said, "I insist that the elections in Andalucía are fine in March" (the month the nationals had been scheduled for prior to Zapatero's announcement yesterday).

Jimena could be without a mayor for several days

JIMENA (Agencies) The municipality could be without a mayor for up to twelve days if Francisco Pineda does not turn up at tomorrow's vote and investiture ceremony (12 noon at Case de la Cultura in Jimena village) to take up his post. This is highly unlikely as he is in hospital having fallen victim to a brain haemorrage during the campaign. While his party, the winning PP, has decided on hoping for his recovery, a second Plenary Session of the Council after tomorrow's, will have to take place to elect the third on the list, Guillermo Ruiz, who will probably become the Mayor (the second on the list was Belen Jarillo, who resigned her post as Councillor to concentyrate on being the 'mayoress' for the ELA in Tesorillo (but that's another story). So, with a second session in view, it is perfectly possible that Ruiz will not be confirmed until several days later. Nevertheless, and in the political rather than the personal context, this Saturday's meeting will see only 16 of the 17 councillors-elect present for the first vote (pay attention, there, or you'll be querying Prospero in the street for a long time after all this, and his memory ain't wot it wos) as the PP has not asked Pineda to resign his seat.>

Unusual post-electoral situation

JIMENA (EFE/Photo: TioJimeno)  Jimena de la Frontera is facing an unusual post-electoral situation. The Mayor-elect, Francisco Pineda, suffered a cerebral ictus during the campaign and has been in hospital since then, without any possibility of taking up his post. A retired Army man, this was the first time Pineda had ever stood for election, heading the PP list that won an unprecedented 7 seats on the Council, the same number as the PSOE who have been in power in the municipality since the advent of democracy in 1985. Pineda remains in his room at the Puerta del Mar Hospital in Cadiz, where his health is improving very slowly. He still needs assisted breathing and feeding but is conscious and responding to stimuli with smiles and facial expressions. His motor functions remain paralized, however. According to family sources, he was told that he had won the elections as soon as it was confirmed that he had regained consciousness - two tears rolled down his cheeks at the news. As to the political situation, there appears to be a grey area in the law.>

PP wins Jimena elections

In a major overturn since the first elections in democracy, in 1987, the party that has ruled since then with an overall majority, the PSOE, has been defeated. The vote came out as follows: Partido Popular (PP) 7 councillors; Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol (PSOE), 6; Izquierda Unida (IU) 3; Partido Andalucista (PA) 1. It had been widely predicted (and discussed in bars, naturally) that PSOE would lose its overall majority and that they would have to come to some agreement with another party in order to stay in place. The most likely candidate for such a coalition would be IU, only they have said that they would not form a coalition with anybody at all ever. We shall see. A coalition between the two top parties, PP and PSOE, is another possibility, though doubtful. Nationally, the ruling government party has taken a thrashing almost everywhere. See CampoPulse for more as soon as we can get it posted.

297 foreign people with the right to vote on Sunday

(TioJimeno) There are 7,111 people with the right to vote in Jimena this coming Sunday. Of these, 6,814 hold Spanish nationality while the remaining 297 are citizens of the European Union. We do not know how many of them are English-speaking, but probably a minority, as most of our local compatriots can't be bothered even to find out, but will be heard to complain endlessly at the bar when things don't go their way... In any case, there are 208 less voters in the municipality, compared to the last local elections in 2007, which had 7,319 on the rolls. Then, there was a 76.92% turnout overall (5,693 voters), the remaining 23.08% (1,689) abstained. The electoral census has grown by 1,005 voters since the first municipal (local) elections in democracy held in 1987.

In & Out at the polling booth

We try to keep our promises, though we have missed a few (there's a song in there somewhere) but here is the last of our short series on the upcoming local elections NEXT SUNDAY, the other items about which you can see by clicking on each of them on the sidebar under the same logo as the one illustrating this one. Here we present the full procedure at the polling station, with a touch of humour to keep things on an even keel. (See also: Are you going to vote? Can you vote?, Campo de Gibraltar candidate lists, Get to know your ballot paper.) See the full procedure on CampoPulse.

What, when, where, how (never who) on local elections

All you need to know about the local elections next SUNDAY, MAY 22, is posted below the image on the left, which you will find easily on the sidebar at CampoPulse. Check it out, 'coz it might help if you never voted here before. If you have a vote but don't use it, then don't complain at the bar when things aren't up to your exacting standards!

PP mayoral Francisco Pineda admitted to hospital in serious condition

JIMENA The Partido Popular candidate for mayor of Jimena, Francisco Pineda, was admitted to the Punta de Europa Hospital in Algeciras yesterday after suffering a 'serious vascular accident' (possibly a brain haemorrage). The latest news this morning is that he was transferred to the Puerta del Mar Hospital yesterday evening, where he remains in intensive care. His party representatives met at Las Rejas yesterday to decide their next move but there is no word as yet as to what that might be. Jimena Pascual Collado visited Pineda's family at the Algeciras hospital yesterday.

Jimena vote up for sale on E-Bay

A vote in the next local elections in Jimena has appeared on E-Bay with the following description, at a negotiable price of €10: Will sell my vote to the best offer. In very good condition but losing weight very rapidly. For sale because of imperious necessity of a job or at least a little money. May or may not have any influence in the little town where it must be cast. Please abstain if you have no intention of voting because you have more important things to do but will complain loudly at the bar. You only get one chance to guess who put it up for sale... Here's the link: http://anuncios.ebay.es/G/saae7tvt3rvL5hCMUYMuZrVTkdfVwEeKe29uuKN8Gy-8858373

COMING SOON on CampoPulse!

We are preparing items on the electoral list for each of the Campo's seven municipalities. Given the variety and number of parties taking part in the ELECTIONS ON MAY 22, this is an arduous job that must be published correctly. Other news will be updated as soon as we have put aside earning a living. Watch this space...

Are you going to vote? Can you vote?

Click pic to enlarge

(Source: TranslationHELP) Okay, we're doing this on purpose to coincide with all kinds of voting in the UK: Regional, Councils and Alternative Voting system. In Spain, we have municipal (local) and some regional elections on May 22. The image is of a card that arrived in the post at the beginning of the week and which will have arrived at the registered address of anyone who is registered at the Town Hall under that difficult word empadronamiento (from Padrón=Register). To vote, you should have been registered there at least a month ago. If you didn't bother (and you should if you live here) then you can't vote. (Watch this space for how to vote, coming soon from TranslationHELP)

Do you know how to vote at the elections on May 22? (1)

JIMENA The Council announces that the electoral rolls will be available for scrutiny from April 4 to 11 (inclusive). This enables you to check whether your name is on it, and ask for any changes to be made in case of error. Information and changes can be had at the Secretaría General del Ayuntamiento, C/ Sevilla, 61, on the first floor, or at any of the municipal offices in San Pablo, Tesorillo or Estacion (Los Angeles); or by phone on 956 648 129. If you have any doubts or language problems on the subject, PLEASE write in via e-mail or as a comment (below) and we will do our best to help. Our own electoral motto this year -and most others- is: IF YOU DON'T VOTE, DON'T COMPLAIN. (We will be bringing you more information about how to vote as it is very different from the UK. Watch this space.)

10 questions for the candidates

A proposal was made today on TiojimenoDigital that we should send in our questions to the four (so far) mayoral candidates, Pascual Collado (PSOE), José Antonio Castilla (Partido Andalucista - PA), Sandra Gallego (PP) and Sebastián Gutierrez Gil (Partido Tesorillo Independiente). The idea is that we send in our questions and we will then be asked to vote for the ten best, which will be put to all the candidates before the local (municipal) elections on Sunday, May 27th. Should you want to participate - and Prospero strongly reccommends that you do - go to TiojimenoDigital and send in your questions in Spanish, or, if you prefer, write them into our COMMENTS box in English and we will be happy to translate them. HAVE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE YET?

Is this our next Mayor?

Pascual Collado Saraiba is the PSOE candidate for Mayor. He has been a Councillor for about four years, heading the Education, Culture, Citizen Participation and Communications departments at the Town Hall.

Given the political outlook for upcoming local elections (to be held on May 27th) it is likely that he will be elected our next Mayor. (HAVE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE YET?)