Election Talk

YOU´VE got to hand it to the Partido Popular, their manifesto for the non-Spanish Europeans is like a wish list for expatriates; they are promising to rid expats of all their ills! I´m not complaining, if they are true to their word and are elected at the next local elections, then we could soon be saying goodbye to our green residence permits, the nautical industry will get help in their battle to abolish the matriculation tax and a whole other series of policies to help the elderly and make moving to the island from abroad easier. It is almost like a Christmas present for expatriates. Full marks to the Party, at least they are worrying about the non-Spanish Europeans and if they manage to achieve half of what they are promising then I will be pleased.

But I do wonder if this is just election talk or a real drive to resolve some of the problems faced by non-Spanish Europeans. I don´t want to be sceptical but I know that many things which are promised during the election are later quietly forgotten. Let us remember that we got the verbal agreement from two leading politicians in the Balearics three years ago that they would fight against the green form residence permit and nothing was done. We have to remember that residence permits are the authority of the Ministry for the Interior in Madrid but local politicians can still lobby the ministry and underline our displeasure with the new system. We will just have to wait and see.