Christmas Meeting

Ángel Medina y Lenox Napier invitan a todos los simpatizantes de CIUDADANOS EUROPEOS a brindar con una copa de cava por el próximo año en el bar BOWEN (junto al Restaurante Delfín Dorado) el próximo día 30 de diciembre, martes a las 13.00h.

Angel and Lenox invite supporters of Ciudadanos Europeos to a glass of cava to see in the New Year at the Bar Bowen (next to the Delfín Dorado Restaurant - opp Hotel Continental) on Tuesday 30th of December at 1.00pm.

Un Saludo.

Political Work Never Ends

Angel Medina with the opposition councillors in the Mojácar town Hall plenary session yesterday.

December Meeting

Yesterday, militants and sympathizers of Ciudadanos Europeos de Mojácar met at the Hotel Continental.
We raised a glass of champagne in a toast to our group and we talked about the party's political future and the current situation of the City of Mojácar.
We found contemptible and ridiculous the criticisms that are made of our President, Angel Medina, because we know and fully accept the current political situation and we said so at the meeting.
Ciudadanos Europeos continues to be the only party that meets with its members and supporters and gives an opportunity to express opinions!
This is our second meeting since the last elections. Have you heard of any other party calling for meetings with its supporters?

At the meeting, we made it clear that our President can take the policy option that he considers more expedient, since he always seeks the highest good for the people of Mojácar, especially the foreign residents, who are the essential support.
Soon we shall produce a Party document, signed by Ciudadanos Europeos president Angel Medina, on the current problems of Mojácar.
we therefore ask those doubters who criticize us from the outside, to devote their efforts to projects, actions and ideas which is what we are preparing ourselves and not waste time criticizing our party and president.
All supporters of Ciudadanos Europeos are fully behind Angel, Lenox, Jana, Mariano, Carlos ... and all who make up the executive and management.
We laughed a lot to read 'expert' comments (all belonging to and coming from other political parties) that our President is not going to the plenary meetings, that he is away ....Never fear, we are working and we will soon show our hand!
Our critics and the Municipal Opposition might be wise to work on something more useful for the town of Mojácar.

Un saludo.

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General Meeting

ASAMBLEA GENERAL CIUDADANOS EUROPEOS DE MOJACAR

Para militantes y simpatizantes españoles y extranjeros

Bilingüe

Hotel Continental

Sábado, día 15 de octubre, a las 12,30 p.m.

Orden del día:

-Situación actual de Mojácar y su Ayuntamiento

-Presente y Futuro de Ciudadanos Europeos

-Ruegos y preguntas

(Se servirá un vino al finalizar la Asamblea)

:::::::::::::::::

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF CIUDADANOS EUROPEOS DE MOJACAR.

For all Members and Supporters.

A bilingual meeting at the Hotel Continental

on Saturday, October 15 at 12.30 PM

Agenda:

-Current situation of Mojácar and the City Council

-The Present and Future of Ciudadanos Europeos

-Questions and answers

(A glass of wine will be served at the end of the Assembly)

The State of Denmark

The elections are over and the results are in. Only, nobody believes them.

Were there tricks? Did a few people behave badly? Were some votes lost, or miscounted, and what about the postal votes? Were some people's names dropped off the register and some others' names added? Why was the Northern European vote only 30% yet the Eastern European vote was 100%? How did the postal votes end up mixed in with the village votes, even after eight of the nine parties had complained to the local court? What happened on 'Table F' with the crossings-out on the official result? Why was there one set of results for Mojácar published in the national dailies... and now we have another set, giving Rosmari seven instead of six councillors (an absolute majority)? Is it true that many postal votes had the same handwriting on their envelopes? Were they giving out envelopes even inside the polling station?

Is over 500 postal votes out of 2800 votes a fraction high (the average across Spain is 3%)?

Were jobs offered in exchange for votes, and does a recording of an offer along these lines exist?

Here at Ciudadanos Europeos, we were surprised by the results as they referred to us. We are the only party to have held regular meetings, and we are one of only two parties with the same candidate as four years ago. We have helped and are supported by many members of the British Legion, the Club Taurino, the Anglican Church, the Dames in Spain, the English Library, the Bowlers, residents of La Paratá and others... yet our votes from 2007 to 2011 increased from 163 to 165.

Two votes.

The number of Northern Europeans who asked to vote in the local elections rose from 1000 to 1450 and the number of parties fell from thirteen to nine. Furthermore, voters from South America (all supporters of local families) could no longer vote in local elections, yet our share of the vote rose by just two votes.

So, Mojácar has once again made the news. The town was barred from its swearing-in ceremony on Saturday as an investigation takes place in Granada. Meanwhile, as the previous leader runs a caretaker government (!), we have to wait until a decision is passed down and a new government is somehow sworn in.

What a stinker.

Lorca Aid

The Royal British Legion have collected material for the victims of the Lorca tragedy, who are still, two weeks on, living in tents erected by the Spanish army. Blankets, sleeping bags and other material kindly donated by well-wishers. Ángel Medina helped in the organisation of the hand-over to the Lorca emergency authorities today.

An Endorsement

Jenny Hayes was Nº3 on our list four years ago and dropped by to visit a few days ago. Jenny remains a Mojácar resident (and voter) but is working in Mazarrón as a vet. Most party leaders from four years ago are either no longer active or are in another party entirely - leave alone the rest of their followers. Here at Ciudadanos Europeos, we believe in continuity and regular meetings. So does Jenny.

Saturday Meeting

Several dozen party supporters met the Candidates yesterday for a chat and an aperitif at the Hotel Continental. Mariano Novo (Nº 4 on the list) told of his interest in a yacht marina for Mojácar's coast and his support for bowling greens and other sports facilities. Mariano is from Madrid and has lived in Mojácar for fifteen years. Jana (Nº 3) told of her commitment to seeing things through and impressed us with her sincerity. She is from Hamburg and has lived here for twelve years. Jana speaks fluent English, Spanish and, of course, German. Lenox (Nº 2) explained how we must support a party that is neither 'business as usual' nor confrontational. We are the party of integration and participation. He is from England and has lived in Mojácar since 1966. Ángel, our president and candidate for mayor, spoke of his experience in town hall affairs and his determination to improve life in Mojácar for its residents. Ángel is from Valencia and has lived here for over twenty years. He has a major in economics from the University of Valencia and has written five books.

We are an enthusiastic party, with great hopes and big plans, but with a small budget. Many of the other contenders have large war-chests. Why, we wonder? What sort of promises have they made? To whom, exactly?

In a small town like Mojácar, the fact is that every vote counts. We would like to thank our Supporters and ask them to spread the word to their friends and neighbours. Let's change Mojácar for the better for once! Vote Ciudadanos Europeos!

CE in Cyberspace

Mojácar's branch of Ciudadanos Europeos now has a webpage in Spanish here and a Facebook account here. You can also hear our adverts locally on Radio Costa 105.6FM.

Candidates

Candidates for Ciudadanos Europeos. L to R: Jana Geyer, Lenox Napier and Ángel Medina.

Our Program for May 2011

CIUDADANOS EUROPEOS (CE) European Citizens

Our Manifesto

Our manifesto is as plain as it is simple; being based on current realities and with full knowledge of all recent political events over these past four years, since we were in the government until almost the very end when the project for the underground car-park was once again submitted, in our view inappropriately just four months before an election.

Our Party has always been pragmatic. We did not agree with everything that was done in the past four years nor in the methods used, but we preferred to stay in government for two reasons: to ensure stability and continuity in the Mojácar Town Hall (we’ve seen enough changes, betrayals and motions of censure) and to accomplish smaller goals as became possible, goals that have benefited citizens. Thanks to our ideas and our energy, the town moved forward in a variety of ways. Our first achievements were to move the English Library to its present site and to improve the Agua Enmedio church for the Anglican congregation; our most recent include the patching of La Paratá roads and streets, placing the bilingual electronic displays and the dismantling of the abandoned cranes... small gains that would have been impossible without being a junior partner in the Coalition. We were not permitted to do much more. Throughout all this period, we have continued to hold regular public meetings with residents.

Thanks to our work in Culture, over forty artists have hung their work in the Art Centre at the Bóveda del Castillo and people have enjoyed over fifty concerts and plays due to our efforts in that field. In Tourism, we have increased the number of ‘Blue Flags’ for our beaches to four.

Beyond these departments, we were also in charge of ‘Exterior Relations’, and we were able to improve our contacts with our twinned town of Encamp in Andorra, taking groups of young people there for skiing holidays.

For the next four years, with enough support from the electorate, we propose ten points.

1-Police.
Improve traffic flow by widening and fixing the Las Marinas road, substituting this for the so-called (but never completed) ‘Ring Road’. We shall finish the roundabouts program on the beach and the white-lining of the centre of the carriageway to discourage disruptive and illegal left turns across oncoming traffic.
For security reasons, we shall install at the entrances / exits of the town closed-circuit surveillance cameras.

We shall continue our fight against excessive noise.

2-Street-cleaning.
Make it one councillor’s job to oversee that the company honours their cleaning contract and performs balanced services in all neighbourhoods. Better infrastructure to improve the environment both in the town as on the beach and in the sea.

3-Finance.
Reduce the current high level of the IBI with these two options:- Firstly by cutting back the percentage of tax revenue without lowering the monies collected by tracing all unpaid rates and second, by finalizing the General Plan, which allows changes in assessed values.

4-Seniors.
Start building once and for all the care home for our Senior Citizens. We know how to get the necessary funding, have the location reserved and can link the residential plot next to it.

5-Health.
A new ambulance and X-ray department must be provided at the medical centre on the beach as we wait for the new medical centre.

6-Culture.
Reconvert the newly opened Art Centre back to its planned function as a museum, to house and exhibit the town’s extensive art collection; to exhibit touring collections and to exchange exhibitions. We shall provide local associations a place to hold their meetings.

7-Public Transport.
We have managed to improve taxi and local bus services, now we must fight for a regular bus-route to the airport and a second to the Huercal Overa hospital.

8-Youth.
Promoting all opportunities to assure young people a better future: using the municipal nursery, the domestic science school, the music academy, the information technology school and to expand these opportunities.

Sign agreements with British schools and universities to exchange students and thus promote language learning and scholarship.

9-Residents.
Promote the integration of all residents in our community, by doing things together, celebrating the holidays and festivals of other countries, subsidising language classes, above all, by permitting the admission of people from other countries into the municipal work-force.

10-Sports.

Encourage the use of our sporting facilities and opportunities. Bring outside teams to practise in our facilities over the winter. Build a new lawn bowling club to replace the recently closed one and to build a motor-cross track. To fight for a yacht marina and to encourage nautical sports.

Many projects proper to Ciudadanos Europeos have been left unfinished, and not through any fault of ours: complete the process against the illegal build within the Edificio Victoria; open a bilingual municipal radio; work on the rambla at La Paratá and repair of some of the streets there (Águilas, Golondrinas, Jilguero and others); the installation of ‘crash barriers’ on the way up to La Paratá; reparation of other apparently overlooked beach streets, such as the Rumanía, Rapa, Llanos de Abejorro, Picaso and so on; the promotion of Mojácar through its relationship with Walt Disney; the creation of a group of tour-guides; more and better parking and ‘blue zones’; a proper use as a tourist asset of our archaeological heritage…

For these reasons, we are making a special effort in this campaign to gather enough support from Mojácar’s citizens to give us the opportunity to continue to work for what we have always advocated: cleanliness, public safety and the improvement of services of all kinds. We offer an alternative and transparent kind of local politics: talking, meeting people, answering letters... Local politics is not about power, but about the obligation to serve one’s community.

What can one do with large projects that can’t be maintained properly? Ciudadanos Europeos believes in simple and reasonable solutions to making Mojácar a better place to live.

Notice: formal names are used on the voting list. We are better known to our many friends as follows:

Ángel Medina

Lenox Napier

Jana Geyer

Mariano Novo

Audrey Hathaway

Isabelle Bes

Carlos Blanco

Sarah Hogg

Maureen Sykes

Consuelo Vidal

Alan Sykes

Blanca Morera

Ángel Cifre

.................................................................

We now have a page on Facebook here.

Don't forget: Our next 'meeting' (with a vino español) at the Hotel Continental, Mojácar Playa, from 12 noon on Saturday 7th May. All welcome.

Team Photo

This was taken by Ken Hogg, who with Sarah Hogg is part of the list for Mojácar's Ciudadanos Europeos. Others missing from the photo-shoot include Alan Skyes, Maureen Sykes, Ángel Cifre and Blanca Morera.

The picture shows, front to back, left to right:

Jana Gayer, Ángel Medina; Mariano Novo, Audrey Hathaway; Lenox Napier, Carlos Blanco, Isabelle Bes, Marlin Patzke.

The manifesto ('programa') is now being finalised, with help and advice from our supporters, and we shall have a large public meeting on Saturday 7th May at the Hotel Continental from 12 noon. All welcome.

Angel Medina with the Royal British Legion

The Royal British Legion in Spain celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Charity on Saturday 2nd April with a benefit concert in Alicante, including artists from both the UK and from Spain. Mojácar councillor Ángel Medina and his wife Blanca were present for the occasion, kindly invited by Mojácar chairperson Rita Sneddon (pictured here with her husband Barry, flanking Ángel). Ángel's best memory, he says, of the splendid evening's entertainment was the 200 strong Crescendo International Choir from Torrevieja singing the Hallelujah Chorus.

The RBL meets in Mojácar at 11.30am on the first and third Thursdays of each month at The Artisan Centre in Mojácar (at the 'Fuente'). See their webpage here.

Notes from the Meeting on March 26th

The latest in our long line of regular meetings for Ciudadanos Europeos (‘European Citizens’) was held on Saturday 26th March at the newly decorated Hotel Continental. Ángel Medina spoke first of our approach to ‘small p’ politics with energy towards local concerns, together with day-to-day operations and management. We have a history of small-issue management, which we aim to continue, together with some larger plans, including the building of a residence for the elderly (the land and the project are both in place) and a multi-use centre for social events. We would also finalise bus-routes between Mojácar and the airport as well as Mojácar and the Huercal Overa hospital. Ángel also promises a municipal bowling green and to build more roundabouts on the beach road to help keep traffic fluid. He admitted that the Junta de Andalucía would not allow continuation of the Paseo Marítimo ‘beach promenade’ (Mojácar missed that opportunity many years ago).

He also dwelt on the current and recent state of the Ayuntamiento, including the mayoress’ plans for the underground car-park by the church, as well as her sudden and various completions of projects, such as the new municipal art gallery (lacking certain key elements, it can’t be opened as it stands as a museum) for Monday – the last day that Town Halls can legally open a new attraction before the election countdown. Ángel said that the project, entirely managed by him, was never given the final funds or the ‘green light’ until after he was sacked from the coalition in January, leaving the mayoress a clean field. Another project of his, a bi-lingual municipal radio, turned out that it was blocked in Seville by order of the ayuntamiento de Mojácar!

Some of the things achieved by Ángel as a councillor: the English Language Library brought to Mojacar from Garrucha; the installation of a bathroom in the Anglican Church (at the Aguas de Enmedio chapel); making premises available to the British Legion and the Dames of Spain... He has repaired much of the La Parata roads (the first time in twenty years); has removed most of the unsightly cranes looming over empty building sites; has mounted electric information displays with bilingual texts; has given opportunity for all British artists to exhibit in the Castillo Municipal Gallery; has ensured that all Town Hall publications are in both languages ​​and many other things besides which will be noted in the manifesto that we are putting together.

Lenox spoke of the thirteen parties of 2007 now being reduced to nine – or even eight – for 2011. He also noted that our party supporters' group and eventual list (‘papeleta’) differs from the established parties in not having any desertions from our party to other formations. In fact, of the eight party leaders who survive from the 2007 elections, only two remain in the same party as before.

Ciudadanos Europeos, he said, is about integration and working together, rather than issuing threats of confrontation between forces.

Questions from the floor included one about our approach to tourism. We consider that the tourists are very welcome to share our town – not the other way around.

We shall publish our manifesto (‘programa’) shortly as well as our party list of candidates. We shall hold a final meeting, including a gala presentation in two languages, and notice of all this will be sent to subscribers.

Lenox will also publicise ‘how to vote’ and ‘the postal vote’ in due time, both here and on his webpage The Entertainer Online.

Ciudadanos Europeos are particularly focused on residential tourism which is, after all, the daily bread for local business. Among our goals are to improve communications, health, care for the elderly, transportation, public safety, public cleaning, lower taxes and anything that makes living in Mojácar still more interesting.

Ciudadanos Europeos has continued to meet with supporters regularly during

these past four years. The other parties are talking, just for now. Then, it will be another four years of silence.

We were joined by Crispin Welby from the Ciudadanos Europeos branch in Arboleas. Crispin told us that his party meeting on Friday had agreed the list for the elections. The candidate in Arboleas is Lorenzo Rodríguez with Crispin (a fluent Spanish speaker) as Nº 2.

Our thanks as always to Alan Sykes for the microphones and sound system and to Virginia Heyward for the translations.

Angel Medina

Lenox Napier

Meeting: Saturday 26th March

We shall be holding a meeting for Ciudadanos Europeos at the Hotel Continental on Saturday 26th March at 11.00am.

The Hotel has been spruced up by the owners – no doubt for our benefit!

We would like to thank everyone for their suggestions for the Party Manifesto, please keep them coming. We shall present the Manifesto (‘El Programa’ in Spanish) at the meeting and hope that those with printers will be able to run off a few copies afterwards to give to their neighbours and friends.

The elections on 22nd May will be key to the future of Mojácar. There are – apparently – ten parties standing, including some good people… and, it pains us to say, some not-so-good ones. We can expect to see all kinds of proposals, gifts, BBQs and promises over the coming months. Remember to take them all with a pinch of salt (especially the BBQ sausages). We will no doubt be hearing of some British or other non-Spanish European names floating around in some of the ‘clan’ parties – safely near the bottom of their lists. These unfortunates will be ‘cannon fodder’, placed there to seduce the odd vote from ‘los extranjeros’.

We won’t be taken in.

Ciudadanos Europeos (‘European Citizens’) has no ideology beyond Mojácar, is completely independent and there is no one ‘from Head Office’ to tell us what to do. We believe in integration and a strong and proud Mojácar: a town with a solid plan for the future based on support and protection for our citizens.

Those interested in becoming Party Officials should feel free to approach us in the next few days. All help and support is not only welcome, but necessary for our party to do well in the elections.

We hope to see you on 26th March. Please feel free to bring your friends.

Ángel Medina

Lenox Napier

Let's Make Mojácar Better

We held a small but useful meeting on Friday to look at the current political scene and ways where we might go forward with our agenda. There will be ten different parties searching for votes on May 22nd, some of them with the kind of candidates who, to paraphrase John F Kennedy, will be asking not what they can do for Mojácar, but what Mojácar can do for them.

We clearly need as a party to become better known (and… fast!).

Our first priority is to produce a Party Manifesto (more usefully called ‘a Program’ or programa in Spanish). With your suggestions about how we can plan for a Better Mojácar – please email me with your suggestions and ideas – this should be ready in ten days.

I will then send it out to all of our supporters as an attachment and ask that they print it and share it with their neighbours and friends.

Ciudadanos Europeos is the only party that has had regular public meetings over the past four years. Checking my records, I see that we have had ten formal meetings since 2007, and we have hosted several larger gatherings including a multi-party forum on ‘illegal houses’ following the brutal demolition of Len and Helen Prior’s home in January 2008. Our interest however, and inevitably, centres on our beautiful town and surrounds of Mojácar.

It is no secret that Mojácar is split into various groups. We have the locally born mojaqueros, themselves split along ‘clan’ lines; we have the forasteros – the non-local Spanish, who come from all parts of this great country and have settled here; and we have the foreigners: the extranjeros, the Brits, ingleses, ex-pats or Europeans, choose your favourite.

The local mojaquero votes, around 2,500, are more or less sewn up, divided into the different clan parties. The forasteros would, I think, largely support Ciudadanos Europeos as our First Name candidate is Ángel Medina, who has long experience of small-town politics here in Mojácar, is university educated and comes from Valencia. He is also (I make no apologies here) very pro-British. The final group with voting rights in Mojácar are ‘The Europeans’ (inaccurate, I know, but for want of a better term)... We number about 1,450 potential voters and, barring a few who would throw away this chance to preserve and improve our surroundings and plan for a better future for us all by either not voting or voting for a ‘clan party’, we can expect the ‘fight’ to come down to a simple question of whether we want more high-turn-over tourism, wally trolleys and late-night bars, slot machines and nick-nack shops, or a better quality of life for residents. Noise and petty destruction or peace and quiet. Dirt, pee and broken dustbins, or a clean and wholesome neighbourhood. Who comes first in our plans – the tourists or the residents? The reality must fall, of course, somewhere between these two extremes. But where?

Ciudadanos Europeos, as the name implies (European Citizens) is about integration. We live in Mojácar and love Mojácar. It is our town and we must be proud of it. Let’s make Mojacár better: Support Ciudadanos Europeos.

For those who want to help in the future of our town, please write with your ideas. This is an opportunity for us all to improve our surroundings and our quality of life. Who knows, a prettier and better-loved Mojácar will even drive up property prices…! Let us discuss together how we can bring this about. I am also more than happy to come along to your home or your local bar or restaurant or club to speak or debate the issues.

My name is Lenox Napier. I am the second name on the Party List. I have lived in Mojácar for 45 years (man and boy)! I remember the pueblo when it was quiet, peaceful, magic and unutterably beautiful. I would like, with your help, to try to return it in some way to that wonderful place that inspired my parents when they first saw Mojácar. Let’s make Mojácar better.

A Quiet Paella Lunch

Angel Medina comes, as you may know, from Valencia - home of Spain's greatest contribution to good eating: the paella. 'Arroz' as it is usually known, comes in over a hundred varieties, including today's version, which might best be described as 'large'.

The paella, filled with chicken, artichokes, white beans, tomato sauce, garlic, saffron and rice, was cooked al fresco near the Parque Comercial on Mojácar Playa with enough food for at least several hundred diners. The cooks were Angel, Mariano and Vincent. The paella was arranged by the Club Taurino de Mojácar, the Café Bar Maskó, Paellas Gigantes 'Valencia' and Angel Medina, president of Ciudadanos Europeos.

Were you there?

Angel Joins the Opposition

Ángel Medina has left the Coalition Government of RosMari Cano and joined the opposition, together with another councillor, leaving the Mojácar Town Hall with just five (out of thirteen) councillors. The reason for the dismissal of both councillors is to do with their disagreement with the plan to build an underground car-park for some 37 cars in the old part of the pueblo. This project would be expensive, messy, noisy and take a long time to realize.

Ciudadanos Europeos

The Ministry of the Interior has granted us permission to shorten our name to Ciudadanos Europeos.

Christmas Meeting, with Bowls

Ciudadanos Europeos held a Christmas meeting at the Hotel Continental yesterday (Thursday 16th December) with around a hundred attendees. While the gathering was above all an opportunity to relax and toast the New Year, the party leader Angel Medina (deputy mayor of Mojácar, councillor for tourism and culture) gave a short speech on the party’s achievements so far together with the plans for the future and he also answered some questions.
We were joined by a number of members of the La Mata Lawn Bowling Club, including their chairman Alan Bramble, who are concerned about imminent plans by the owner of the complex to close the grounds to bowlers. Angel revealed that he had recommended to the Town Hall to enter into negotiations to buy La Mata and to run it as a publicly owned sports complex, and that the Town Hall is now in contact with the owner. This may prove to be impossible, and Angel’s other proposal, which he offered as ‘an election promise’, would be to build a new bowling green next to the new municipal football stadium. Alan Bramble and some colleagues have agreed to meet with Angel early in the New Year to take this project forward.
A question from the audience about tourism is worth a few lines here. Angel has reduced the money spent at FITUR, the national tourist fair held in Madrid in January, from around 80,000 euros some years ago to a current budget of 10,000 euros. The fair, together with the London Tourist Fair held in November, is important and he spends his time in meetings there with experts and politicians to discuss Mojácar’s tourism. He revealed, however, that the large tour-operators insist on paying less rather than more for hotel rooms and ask for major advertising campaigns from our town hall (and other town halls too) in their catalogues. Angel insisted that his main interest is in ‘residential tourism’ (as the European home-owners are classified in Spain) rather than in summer mass-tourism and that, like a house being cleaned up before the guests arrive, his concern is to repair, clean and improve Mojácar as far as he is able.
It is clear that Mojácar, like the other towns in Almería, is evermore under the thumb of the Junta de Andalucía, which has now taken over from the national government responsibility of the beach-bars, and an inspector from Seville has already been to Mojácar to see for himself his new engagement.
Angel spoke of his commitment towards public transport and said that he is trying to get a permanent bus-route from Almería airport to Mojácar and another connecting our town with the Huercal Overa hospital.
Bob Brook from Arboleas was at the meeting. Concerned by the issues in that town (notably, the burning issues of ‘illegal houses’, corruption and fraud) Bob and some friends have started a new party to contest the local elections there May 22nd 2011). The party, while completely independent from Mojácar, is called Ciudadanos Europeos de Arboleas. Bob calls it ‘the listening party’ which is a good and necessary quality in a political movement. Our party in Mojácar is the only party that has regular meetings throughout the four-year legislature, rather than a few hurried ones just before Polling Day).
The postal vote continues to be a problem, since Europeans can only use this system from within Spain itself (a holiday in Bilbao, perhaps) while Spaniards are able to vote through their consulates abroad.
Party officials Jill and Patrick Bennett, Alan Sykes and Mariano Novo were present last night and, together with Carlos Blanco (on a Christmas visit to France), join Angel Medina and I in wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New 2011.

Lenox Napier

P.S. I will be in the Mojacár Town Hall on Tuesday 21st and 28th at 12 noon to help with the padrón or registering to vote. For those who are unsure if they can vote, please ask in writing (with full name, passport number and municipality) to sede.censoelectoral@ine.es