Almuñécar has 7,000 non-Spanish residents who are eligible to vote in the upcoming municipal elections, which is why the deadline has been extended to the 16th of this month.
The deadline in question marks the end of the period that you can get your name down on the electoral register (censo electoral). As explained before, just because you are apadronado doesn’t mean you’re on that list – one should automatically put you on the other but many Town Halls ‘overlook’ this.
But now with nearly 7,000 foreigners wandering around (6,841 to be precise) in a town with a population of 26,000, more or less, it is a big chunk of votes to be harvested, so the Mayor of Almuñécar, Juan José Ruiz Joya, has decided to extend the deadline.
On a different but related note, you will have noticed that half the town is being dug up, repaved and spit-&-polished – Almuñécar is far from being alone in this. When landing a councillor’s job can earn a candidate 4,000 euros a month plus expenses over the following four years… your vote is very important.
The Law (LOREG) states in Art.50.3 “durante el periodo electoral queda prohibido realizar cualquier acto de inauguración de obras o servicios públicos o proyectos de éstos, cualquiera que sea la denominación utilizada, sin perjuicio de que dichas obras o servicios puedan entrar en funcionamiento en dicho periodo” (During the electoral period, it is prohibited to carry out any act of inauguration of public works or services or their projects, whichever category used, without prejudice to the fact that said works or services may come into operation during said period.)
In other words, public works can conclude during the election period, but there can be no inauguration ceremony. Before the law came out, politicians delayed or rushed public works so that they could be concluded just before election day to boost their chances of being voted in.
So, Ladies and Shopping-Trolley Pilots, you are now a politicians best friend until the 29th of May (the day after voting) when you will be ignored for the following four years!
(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)