Canarian politics

Started by TamaraEnLaPlaya, April 24, 2015, 22:08:51 PM

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TamaraEnLaPlaya

Taken from Island Connections:

24.04.2015 - Are you unsure how the political institutions work in the Canary Islands?   In this article we attempt to give you an overview of how Government institutions are structured, why the archipelago has more than one level of government and what your vote will count for.

 

Autonomous communities:

Spain is made up of 17 Autonomous communities and two autonomous cities, each with its own Government, President, Legislature and Supreme Court.  Each Autonomous community is divided into either one or more provinces.  And those provinces are further divided into municipalities.  The Government of the Canary Islands exercises the executive power, parliament exercises the legislative power and the Island and town councils exercise the administrative power. These have a lot of power outside of Central Government and the major say in where the money goes in important areas such as health and education.  In certain legislative areas they are able to pass laws that are binding, though obviously only within that region. 

The seven Canary Islands work as one Autonomous Community made up of the two provinces of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura).

The Government of the Canary Islands regulates both provinces, apportioning governmental and administrative seats in the capital cities of both these provinces.

The Autonomous community of the Canary Islands is unusual since it has two capital cities, instead of just the one, which can be explained by the historic rivalry that exists between the two major political cities of the archipelago (Santa Cruz and Las Palmas). 

 

This May, three elections will take place: Regional Parliament elections, Cabildo (Island council) elections and municipal elections.  Only Spanish citizens (resident or non-resident in Spain) may vote in the Regional and Cabildo elections.  However voting is open to some non-Spanish residents in the local council elections.

 

Regional Parliament

The Parliaments of Autonomous communities have their own Governments and administrations.

The Regional Parliament is formed of deputies (members of parliament), who are elected every four years in free elections, using a system of proportional representation.  Political parties present parliament with a list of candidates from each island (constituency).  Voters do not select individual candidates but choose a party list which contains the names of all that party`s candidates.  Deputies are then elected in proportion to the number of votes from that constituency.

The most populated islands elect the highest number of deputies as in the ‘House of Representatives` system.  But, parallel to this a ‘Senate` system is used, whereby less populated islands elect more deputies than corresponds to them.  The careful balance regarding the number of deputies representing each island reflects the importance placed on Canarian political unity.

A total of 60 deputies are elected to represent the archipelago.  The major islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria both elect 15 deputies; La Palma and Lanzarote eight; Fuerteventura seven; and La Gomera and El Hierro four and three respectively.  The total number of deputies elected in the Western province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which includes four islands, is 30.  The exact same number of deputies is elected for the Eastern province of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which contains three islands.  The total number of deputies elected by the three minor islands of the Western province (La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro) is 15.  Again, this is equal to the number of deputies elected by the two minor islands of the Eastern province (Fuerteventura and Lanzarote).  So, each block of minor islands in a province elects the same amount of deputies as the major island.



Cabildo (Island council)

Each of the Canary Islands also has its own Cabildo, which works like a local government and administrative institution and deals with matters concerning all municipalities of the island.

Cabildos concern themselves with matters such as the environment, tourism, territorial planning, culture and patrimony, sport, agriculture and the main road networks (not motorways), and develop projects and promotional campaigns such as the Tenerife Cabildo`s ‘Tenerife, Amable` campaign (Friendly Tenerife).



Municipalities

Each island is divided into municipalities that are run by town councils (Ayuntamientos).  Town councils develop regulations and plans and are responsible for municipal infrastructure, including town-planning, paving, lighting, cemeteries, housing, parks and gardens and markets, as well as concerning themselves with the collection of council tax, policing, environmental conservation, preservation of historic and artistic patrimony, and social and cultural events.

 

Who can vote?

The Spanish constitution grants foreigners from other European countries the right to vote and to stand as candidates for local and EU elections.  In Municipal elections, Norwegians resident in Spain can also vote, as can the citizens of Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Ecuador, Iceland, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru,Trinidad and Tobago, which have bilateral agreements with Spain.

In addition, any foreigner who has the right to vote can become a member of a political party or association, or can form a local group which monitors municipal matters and presents proposals to the town council.

EU Foreign residents can present themselves as candidates to the town Council in local elections as long as they fulfil certain legal requirements, are able to express themselves well enough in Spanish, and have a good knowledge of the state of affairs of the municipality and the laws which govern local government in this country.

To vote, you need to be on the electoral register.  It is important not to confuse the ‘padrón municipal`, which is a list of inhabitants, with the electoral register (censo electoral).  The censo electoral is a list of the people holding the right to vote in local elections.  It gets its voters from the padrón municipal but being registered on the padrón doesn`t necessarily mean that you will automatically get on the ‘censo`.  The closing date for registering on the censo was January 15.

Local elections in Spain take place every four years.  Votes have to be submitted in person, and a photo ID (i.e. D.N.I or residencia permit and passport) must be shown at the polling station where the voter is registered: simply taking the voting card you should receive in the post is not enough.  If you are on the electoral register you should soon receive a document detailing which polling station you will need to go to.  If you haven`t received this document, check with your local town hall.  If for any reason you are unable to physically present yourself at the polling station, find out how to submit a postal vote by enquiring at your local town hall.

The next municipal elections will take place on May 24, 2015.