CAN I VOTE IN SPANISH LOCAL ELECTIONS?

I am getting asked on a weekly basis how people can vote in the Spanish Local Elections, due to be held on the last Sunday in May 2023. The answer is not an entirely simple one but let me outline the current regulations as we know them. ALL other Spanish elections are reserved exclusively for Spanish Nationals. Whilst you must be on the Padron (Municipal Register) to be eligible to register, clearly not everyone on the Padron has this right, and it is a prerequisite, but not the same as signing onto the Voters’ Roll.

There are basically two groups of people (non Spanish) who can sign onto the Voters’ Roll: EU citizens, and citizens from countries which have a reciprocal agreement with Spain for voting in Local Elections. Let’s deal with the easiest one first.

EU CITIZENS

If you hold a passport from any EU country AND are on the Padron, you can quite simply go to your town hall and ask for the form “Incripcion de Censo Electoral”. You fill it in and present your passport to confirm that you are who you say you are, and that’s it.

NON EU CITIZENS

You will only be able to vote in the Local Elections, IF you come from a country which has a reciprocal agreement with Spain for its citizens. These countries are currently: “Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Korea, Ecuador, Iceland, Norway, New Zealand, Paraguay, Perú, United Kingdom, and Trinidad and Tobago.” This list of countries is taken from a communication issued by the Office of National Statistics in September 2022. I need to come back to the situation with the United Kingdom as this is not yet totally clear. The general rule for these countries is that you must have had legal residency for a minimum of 3 years, be on the Padron and apply to be on the Voters’ Roll via your local council. Yet again, there is no automatic right simply by being on the Padron.

United Kingdom Citizens

We just received Official news this week that The UK has been added to the list of countries with a reciprocal agreement for voting. There are be conditions:

1.You need to be on the Padron

2. You need to have held residency for a minimum of 3 years

3. You need to indicate your desire to vote by signing onto the electoral roll. Yet again, being on the Padron does not give to an automatic inclusion on the Voters’ Roll.

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