by David Mills

The central Government in Madrid have ordered all councils to 'wipe' the records of ALL 'Extranjeros' (Foreigners)

Now ‘Foreigners’ MUST ALL RE-REGISTER now and every two years afterwards. In a political act of staggering insensitivity against their follow EU citizens, the Madrid Government has effectively disenfranchised all expatriates.

The 'Padron's' (Electoral Roles) are reported to be in such a mess the central Government via the INE (Statistics Office) has now ordered them to be scrapped!

The Padron should dictate the voting register, but there have been lots of problems of abuse in the past. The Padron registers are supposed to be administered by the town halls, so the problems vary from place to place. Of course non Spanish EU citizens should not be referred to as "Extranjeros" at all. If the Padrons have been wiped clean of the latter, what will the authorities use as the data base to notify folks that they've been dropped? Maybe that's a deliberate "Catch 22"!

The Governments actions this week have been described by many citizens as, “Absolutely mental and unconstitutional as they seem to make it up as they go along.”

Recently (19 Aug 09) the British Embassy in Madrid issued an erroneous document strongly urging ALL British expats to register on their local Padron. Shortly after, the Consul General was advised by the British Expats Association of his foolishness in meddling with state affairs. Something the Consular services always remind us they must not do.

David Burrage of the British Expats Association stated, “Our Consular Services should not be getting involved in this matter, since we already know that there are many citizens still registered on local Padrons where they no longer have there habitual residence in Spain. The local authorities are also aware of this, but corruptly turn a blind eye. At the last election one authority was found resurrected their dead from their cemetery, others were inventing citizens, so as to corruptly cast a vote. We also witnessed campaigns where holiday makers and those who merely used a holiday home here were being encouraged to register in the Padrons”

The Padron is not a confidential register, since whilst the public do not have access to it this register is available to all of the official government agencies of Spain, most importantly the ‘Taxman’. Also under this latest edict, you will need to register not only on the Padron but also on a separate form if you wish to vote!

A spokesperson for the Alfaz del Pi town hall said, “The INE are now sending to all Town Halls (monthly) lists of people on the Padron who have not got an NIE and/or registered with their passport number and have not informed their Town Hall that they actually now do have one, which is what is now required to register initially, OR have an expired Residencia and haven’t registered on the new Central Registry which one is required to do if living here for more than 90 days OBLIGING/ALLOWING one to be on the Padron.”

The most contentious issue here is not the Padron, the dubious ‘two’ list system or the INE but some Town Hall staff and their political paymasters who often resort to ‘Jerrymandering’ for their own gains.

Any amount of Government edicts will EVER stop this!

If you decide to put your affairs in order - get an NIE if you haven’t and/or the GREEN CERTIFICATE if you have - you only need a photo, copy of passport, address, the form and the ‘tasa’ paid at the bank (CAM best).

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