Malaga, (EFE) of many of them contrasts with those who take a step forward in politics.
Whether due to the weather, labor reasons, Brexit or fleeing conflicts in their countries of origin, such as Ukraine, the foreign population has grown steadily in the last five years in the region, reaching a record in 2022 ( 747,110) reached in 2012, according to INE data.
The foreign community is very large in Almería and Málaga, where it represents 21.7 and 16.6% of the total and makes up more than a quarter of the census in many municipalities, a concentration that also occurs in towns in Granada such as Motril and Almunecar.
Some residents are so immersed in local life that they turn out in these elections. This is the case of Alexander Leo Van Oepen, a 36-year-old German who has lived in Spain since he was 5 and is the Socialist candidate for mayor of Játar, a small town in the west of Granada with just 400 inhabitants.
The cases of Malaga and Almeria
His involvement in politics does not come from now, he has been involved in it for twenty years, almost all of them as a councilor in this town with a PSOE government for two decades, the last eight with its own town hall after its segregation from Arenas del Rey.
Married to a neighbor from the town and with two daughters, he admits that his relationship with politics is not common among the foreign community in Spain, especially among the Central European one: “They tend to be very autonomous, they do not have a very active social life, but more well closed and focused on the family”, he told EFE.
It is not his case: “Politics has always caught my attention. I am very concerned about the things of the town, I try to get involved…
People tell me that I am more of a public relations person”. A hotelier by profession, his main objective is to stop depopulation by offering job options to young people.
On the Andalusian map, the cases of Benahavís (Málaga) and Arboleas (Almería) are especially significant. Where foreigners are the majority. The municipality of Almería de Mojácar, where they account for half of its inhabitants, or Níjar, La Mojonera, Zurgena or Turre, also in this province. And those of Málaga de Cómpeta, Alcaucín or Viñuela, in which they exceed 40% of those registered.
The language, essential for their integration
In Benahavís, with almost 9,000 inhabitants, the more than 5,400 foreigners are “very integrated”. And they are “very respectful,” their mayor, José Antonio Mena (PP), who aspires to be re-elected for a fifth term, has assured EFE.
The high weight of foreign residents, which can reach 80% if those not registered are included, is concentrated in urbanizations, outside the urban area. And it is reflected in aspects such as restoration or the Town Hall itself. “We Spaniards speak better English than the English speak Spanish”, she stated.
Only 334 of these residents have registered to vote on May 28. Although some parties do reflect in their lists the relevance of the group, in the case of the PP, which has four foreign candidates.
In Mojácar, where 783 of the more than 3,800 foreign residents are called to the polls, the presence of foreigners on the lists is traditional. In fact, the current Corporation has councilors like Lucas John Mayo (PP) or Adele Land (PSOE), of British origin.
Translation to English
All the publications in the social networks and website of the Consistory are translated into English. To respond to the social reality of the Almeria municipality.
The disinterest of some foreign residents contrasts with the defense of others of greater involvement in municipal life. Like the British Benjamin George, based in Fuengirola and Sales Director of the free newspaper Euro Weekly. Who still looks “like a foreigner”, although he has been in Spain for 28 years.
“There are foreigners who have been here for 20 or 30 years but do not make any effort” to adapt to Spanish culture, and in part it is because they do not need it. “They speak and they answer in English, in the supermarket or the Police,” George pointed out.
The Belgian Vanessa Van Camp has been in our country for more than 35 years. She has a real estate services company in the Marbella town of San Pedro Alcántara. “It is very important to speak the language of the country where you want to live, but unfortunately the percentage that speaks Spanish is very small”, she stated.
“If there were more information – he indicated – possibly more people would go to vote” because sometimes “they feel a little lost”. Hence the importance of someone attending them in English. And from business associations like the one she chairs as a liaison because “since they don’t know the language they tend to get together” and interact with each other.
Safety and health, among your concerns
These residents attach special importance to safety, health and the environment, Ricardo Bocanegra, with 41 years of experience in his Marbella office as an immigration lawyer, explained to EFE.
At the beginning they were “little” interested in the elections but little by little this interest in “getting involved in society has increased and today they must be taken into account”, said the also founder of the Federation of Associations of Foreigners of the Coast of the Sun (Faecosol).
The situation of the beaches, due to the “pending issue” of comprehensive sanitation, is cause for criticism. But “the advantages of the Costa del Sol are above the defects, which are minimal, so they feel comfortable”.
Gerardo Vázquez, a lawyer of British origin who works in Almería with different associations of foreigners and is one of the visible faces of Abuses Urbanísticos Andalucía-NO (AUAN), has indicated that they want “an efficient and close administration”.
In these elections, he has detected a “brutal drop” in citizens who can vote due to Brexit. Since “many were unaware that they had to register again”, which he regretted because “it is good that their interests are taken into account”.
Security worries them. “There are municipalities like Mojácar, Bédar and Turre in which there have been quite a few robberies, even in 10 or 12 houses in one night, and the issue of squatters is a problem,” Vázquez pointed out. Who argues that if the legal system does not work in aspects such as the right to property, “a state fails.”
Andalusia, third in non-native voters
Andalusia, with 65,316, is the community with the third most non-native voters in these elections -citizens from the EU and from third countries with a reciprocity agreement with Spain who have requested it before January 30- may vote. After the Valencian Community (73,978) and Catalonia (67,379).
Among the nationalities of the voters registered in Andalusia, 17,844 Romanians stand out. Followed by 10,713 Britons, 6,442 Italians, 5,868 Germans. 4,828 French, 3,090 Dutch, 2,515 Belgian, 2,120 Swedes and 1,970 Portuguese.
By provinces, Malaga has 26,430, of which 3,565 are located in Marbella, 2,362 in Estepona, 2,289 in Fuengirola and 2,001 in Mijas. It is followed by Almería, with 12,825, of which 3,411 correspond to Roquetas de Mar, 1,111 to El Ejido, 783 to Mojácar and 525 to Arboleas.
In Huelva, 6,898 residents will be able to vote, of which 1,446 reside in Lepe and 976 in Almonte. And in Granada, 6,634, of which 896 live in Almuñécar and 783 in Mojácar. EFE