Yes I realised that once I got there they just wanted my ID they then checked me off their list and I voted. This person said he has never registered to vote and didn't have a clue when I mentioned having to register. This person May have registered his intention previously although he said it was his first time voting. Whether he has had the letter to register and forgot? It was my first time voting in Spain and went smoothly for me.

Just being on the padron was not enough to vote here (Alicante province) as a foreigner found out yesterday here in my pueblo and we needed a passport for proof of ID and we could not vote for anything else apart from the local election.

I always use my driving licence as ID but carry my passport as well in case they ask for it.

Rosemary

I used my TIE card as ID and all was good. Re the padron that was my view otherwise why would they send out the letter inviting you to register. It will be interesting to find out if this person got to vote without formally registering.

Rosemary - No TIE?

No, I got the impression he had not registered thinking being on the padron was sufficient.

Requirements applicable to European citizens who wish to vote in municipal elections in Spain

To be eligible to vote, you need to be entered on the electoral roll for municipal elections, for which you must:

• be registered to vote in your municipality of habitual residence;
  
• have formally stated your intention to vote in municipal elections in Spain;
  
• and be at least 18 years old on voting day
  
  https://administracion.gob.es/pag_Ho...nicipales.html
  

Not changed my certificate yet so it is more hassle to use that method.

Rosemary

Sorry Rosemary I voted and used my TIE as ID I had registered as per your link. The person I mention said he hadn't registered but was on the padron and believed that meant he could vote. I said I didn't think he would be able to vote as he had not completed the registration and received the notice saying he was registered. I don't know the outcome as he was going away after voting I will find out when he returns. As for myself all was fine.

Just to indicate how turbulent the political situation is liable to get after yesterday's results and today's announcement of a new election in July. The breaking story is in Valencia: PP have the overall vote but not sufficient to be a majority. As ciudadanos have gone their only possible support will be with VOX- however Carlos Flores the vox leader in Valencia has just served a year in jail for wife beating. He is a notoriously ultra-right politician who, like many of this ilk will thrive on creating division and tension. PP have no way of containing him and will have to allow him to do things even they will find repugnant. This is the problem for spain. It is not about cheering Sanchez's defeat its about the alternatives ( now the centre right parties have effectively gone). For PP to govern they have no choice but to allow Vox in and in a weird way PP are probably more scared of Vox than POSE.

Er yeah, right, so it was ok for EH Bildu, partner of the current government, to put forward all those convicted terrorists in their lists from "los años de plomo"? Did you know there were 7 convicted assassins in their lists?

The election hasn't happened yet, but at least this time the Spanish are much clearer about who they are voting for. No one voted in 2018 for the coalition that Pedro Sanchez put together. In 2023 people now understand it's either a coalition PSOE with the nationalists and extreme left, or a coalition of PP/VOX.

I think (not 100% sure) that this is a rule for non-EU citizens, and we're non-EU citizens now so we need to register at least once even though we might have been here for over 3 years.

Yep, Gib should have played the hand it had instead of twisting. Hopefully there's no constitutional block on the government signing an agreement in this period, because otherwise there's the very real chance of Vox in the driving seat after the elections.

Vox are cuddly teddy bears of course. The worst thing that happened was Ciudadanos collapsing, now there's no middle ground on the right, if the numbers make PP + Vox a majority then Vox will be in the driving seat.

Everyone knows how PR works in Spain and everyone knows bipartidismo was over years ago, as early as 2015. Everyone knows that the choice then is either voting for PSOE or PP knowing there's every chance they're going to enter into a coalition or voting for another party knowing they will enter into coalation with the PSOE or PP. Every election result "swingometer" in Spain is not a "swingometer", you on the Internet or the people on the TV build possible coalitions to see the result to find out if the PSOE or PP need to work with this party or that party.

Thinking of the measures taken during the pandemic and the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine when prices shot up, you have to ask yourself what the "other lot" would have done. I think the answer would have been not half as much. There's the chance of more hard times coming along, and if they do the PP + Vox just wouldn't enact those kinds of policies. Their first natural reaction would be to start banging on about foreigners.

Glad you think that everyone knows how PR works, based on a 19th century Belgian mathematicians formula that explains why it took Ciudanos about 160000 votes to achieve a seat in parliament while Teruel Existe get seats for around 20k votes.

Spain is actually converging back to a two sided vote, coalition left or coalition right. You just choose how far right or left to vote. The growth of VOX in such a short space of time I suggest has an awful lot more to do with rejecting Sanchez and there being no other centre party alternative. The centre has moved to PP and the right of PP has moved to VOX depending on the level of rejection.

Teruel Existe is a single-issue party in one province, if seats were decided by number of votes alone then representation for any province which didn't have a major city would be zero.

And yet I still don't see the attraction of voting for a bunch of throwbacks to the Falange, but that's just me. Sometimes you've just got to draw the line at what's unacceptable and most people will, but if the numbers add up then Vox will be pulling the PP's strings and many people will be getting something they didn't vote for.

The swing yesterday showed the movement of opinion in Spain, kind of facile to link that to the Falange..... I spend everyday surrounded by Spanish family and friends. They were a mixed bag of voters in 2018, but now they reject the concessions to nationalists and anarchists. They reject the ocupas, they reject a government ruling by decree. You seem to object to VOX but for the last four years we've seen the opposite extreme and we've just had a very weak government being pulled further and further away from the middle ground. We still haven't had the election yet, and I'm amused about how those with left wing views seem to have given up on Sanchez. I'm in line with PP, but I still would not be surprised if Sanchez gets re-elected and the left achieves a majority simply because of a motley collection of minorities.

Bildu candidates were withdrawn. There was a general election which sanchez won in 2019

Aw shucks, youu got the edit in first........ I was going to try and inject a bit of humour that if Sanchez is still winning elections in 2029 it will be time for a divorce, rip out the visa from my passport and head over the horizon......... "