Interesting times ahead

It will not have escaped your attention that local elections in Bigastro are almost upon us. Official canvassing will start two weeks before the date and must cease two days before.

At the appropriate time we will be given lists of the candidates for each party in order of importance. Spain has proportional representation which means that the number of seats on the council that each party gains will be in relation to the number of votes they obtain.

In 2003 the socialist party had a slim majority of 85 votes which meant they had just one more councillor than the conservatives. In 2007, they managed to regain ground and so currently have 8 councillors to the PP parties 5. Now we know that the socialist government has lost popularity since the economic crisis cast its shadow over Spain and so the feeling is that socialist councils may come under a lot more pressure this time round.

The previous mayor held office for 25 years, the current mayor for less that 3 which means that very few will remember a time when Bigastro was not controlled by the socialist party. In fact, Bigastro is one of only a few councils in this area that are under socialist control (the others are Guardamar, Benijofar, Redovan, San Isidro, San Fulgencio and Los Montesinos). The conservatives in Bigastro say it is time for a change but then I imagine they have been saying that for the last 24 years!

I have tried to maintain an apolitical stance on this blog by presenting a balanced view. However, it is in our interest to know just what the parties have to offer and to put over our point of view. I therefore agreed to meet with the mayor this morning at which time he told me that he would be holding a meeting up at the restaurant La Pedrera on Sunday 10th April at 11am to gather the opinions of the British voters and to take questions before formulating the party manifesto.

This morning, the mayor expressed his wish that as many of us as possible would attend the meeting. He firmly believes that it is important to know the feelings of all factions of the community including the British contingent. For my part, I feel this will be an important meeting for us to attend – Pam and I will certainly be there and hope to see as many of you as possible.

Please pass this information to your friends and neighbours.

Just to remind you of the date: -SUNDAY 10th at 11am in the Restaurant, La Pedrera Camping.