To the Polls! (¡a las urnas!)...

This week Europeans are being called to the polls to elect a new European Parliament. It’s already started in some countries like the UK, Ireland and Holland. Spain’s turn is this Sunday, and I’ll definitely be off to place my vote.

I’m afraid I’m not going to be in the majority, however. Here they’re predicting a turnout of only about 40-45% (probably even less in Madrid where I suspect many will be too busy recovering from celebrating or commiserating the results of the other big thing happening in Europe this weekend - the final of the European Champions League - to get around to voting. You see, quite amazingly, it is being fought out by two Madrid teams: Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid).

Football aside, people either don’t understand how the European Parliament and Commission effects them (according to recent media reports, 7 out of 10 Spaniards can’t tell you who the President of the European Commission is), are too tired to be bothered after all these years of crisis, or just don’t have any faith in politicians any more. I imagine it’s probably it’s a mix of all three.

And it’d be no wonder if the Spanish don’t quite understand the importance of these elections - there has been very little about Europe in local campaigning at all, at least from the two main parties.

The Socialists have spent most of the time complaining about some (very) machista (chauvinistic) comments made by the head of the conservative ticket and the conservatives (the Partido Popular) have spent almost all of their time rattling on about the herencia recibida (the shocking state of the economy that they inherited from the Socialists at the last Spanish general election) two years ago!

"Change Europe, Stop Rajoy."
The Catalan Socialist's very local slogan (Rajoy is Spain´s Prime Minister). 

The polls suggest that the conservatives will win Europe again. This is pretty interesting as it goes against what has been happening in most of the general elections in member states over the last few years. Not in that the conservatives are going to win – much of Europe has gone to conservative parties in recent elections - but in the sense that in general elections during this long and crippling economic crisis, most incumbent governments have been kicked out. But in Europe the conservatives have been in power for the last ten years – throughout the entire length of the crisis.

"What's at risk is the future" from the Patrido Popular. In the context of their campaign,
a clear reference to the Socialist's performance in the previous Spanish government. 

Whoever wins Spain’s share of the 751 escaños (seats) in the European chamber, you can be guaranteed they’ll be pro-European. Despite the savagery of the government’s spending cuts, most of which have been dictated by Europe, Spain is still pro-Europe.

The same can’t be said for other countries in Europe. In the UK, Holland and France, the polls are predicting some big wins for anti immigration, anti-European, anti-just-about-everything parties who have hidden none of their desire to be in the European Parliament with the sole intention of destroying the EU from within.

I’m a huge fan of the European Union as an institution – although, I have to say, not the policies and direction that those currently in power are taking the continent (I’ve probably just given away who I’ll NOT be voting for this Sunday).

I’d be a massive hypocrite if I wasn’t pro EU. I’m living here thanks to it: my dad’s Italian citizenship gave me a European passport and hence the right to live and work in the UK and now here in Spain.

But for me it goes further than this selfish perspective. The European Union has brought together counties that only last century all but destroyed the continent TWICE through war, to work for a common good and a common goal and with that has come a peace not previously known here. To me, if you’ll allow me the indulgence, it’s an earth-bound uber-prelude to Star Trek’s United Federation of Planets.

That doesn’t mean that the EU is perfect, there is plenty wrong with it - you just have to look at its inept (and arguably quite undemocratic) response to the current financial crisis to see that. But I think it’s much better to have something there to improve than nothing at all (or something whittled down to irrelevance). That’s what makes the popularity of the anti-Europe parties such a worry to me. Not to mention their unconstrained nationalism and vitriolic rhetoric, which all feels very 1930s.

Three key faces from, in my opinion, the scary side of European politics:

(L to R) Marine Le Penn of France´s National Front, Nigel Farange of the UK Independence Party & Geert Wilders of Holland's Party for Freedom.

But now, to finish, back to selfish reasons for why I’m voting this year: I’m itching to play my part in the democratic process again. I haven’t been able to vote for a government in Australia for years now (I missed the deadline to re-register one year and that cost me my right to vote there until I return) and here in Spain, unlike in the UK, as an extranjero, I can’t vote in a general election. So voting in these, probably more important than ever, European elections is just the ticket. 

¡A las urnas!