Who shall I vote for (in Spain)?

[mockney piers]

An Expres Par Avion turned up on my doormat this morning. I opened it up to find my voting slip for the Spanish national and Madrid Ayuntamiento (a bit like the mayoral one) elections.

As we're flooded with US elections I thought I might give you a taste of what it's like elsewhere.

This is no ordinary small piece of paper style voting slip; it consists of a broadsheet newspaper and a novel of names and parties. I'm torn, so much choice. So many pretty badges. So surreal!

How do I choose between the Flange Espa?ola de la Jons or the Falange Autentica [splitters!]. The latter are doing all that nasty saluting type stuff and the former seem to like flowers so they must be nice.

There's the Partido Antitaurino* or antibull party (which is pretty much what happens every time I go to a bullfight, sun, wine, cheering) and their bloodthirsty logo . So I'm tempted by that.

I'm sure EVERYONE in ED would love me to vote Partido de los No-Fumadores. They're not campaigning against smoking, they just like to discuss politics with the windows shut.

There are a couple of Carlists, whites, reds, 2 sets of greens, each using the word green twice in their title, the Verdes Comunidad Madrid Verdes de Europa and the Los Verdes-Grupo Verde which is a bit odd as they seem to be from the same party. That'd be like Ken and Frank Dobson both going for mayor....oh

I'm warming to Un mundo Mas Justo with its fabulous logo . But can they hold a candle to the peaceful, anarchist, green naturist party Cultura Natural which could be painful frankly.

Then Communists, Anarchists, Catholics, Democrats, Workers, Shirkers, Nationalists, Internationalists, Pro Family, Pro Revolution and the wonderfully relevant Espa?a 2000 who, being serious for a moment, frankly scare the willies out of me.

Oh weep ye with so little choice i nyour quaint elections.

*I tried to do an image search for the logo, for gods sake don't attempt it at work, clearly antibull parties are a slang term for something akin to, but more disturbing than, dogging.

[david_carnell]

Bloody hell MP - it's like a rainbow. I don't know your Spanish nationality which complicates matters. You can't just be Spanish can you? You have to be Catalan or Basque or Galician or some other regional identity, right?

I'm presuming, since you're voting in Madrid local elections as well, that's your base?

Why does Madrid get a Mayor and a President? My brain hurts.

Maybe some anarcho-syndacalists need your vote. Go for them. Or one with a pretty badge.

Edit: Oooh, oooh...just been wiki-ing and found (drum roll) the Partido Comunista de Espa?a (Reconstituido),. PCE® is a Spanish clandestine communist party that broke out from the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). They also have an armed wing called GRAPO! - a Spanish clandestine Maoist group aiming for the formation of a Spanish Marxist-Leninist Republican state, based on the model of Maoist China. Awesome. Vote for them!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/90/Pcer.PNG

[mockney piers]

Cool, nice colourful badge.

Sadly they don't seem to be on my electoral roll.

I'm curious about PLEVE

the state liberal work and living party, who seem to have no info as to what they're about, but there's something wonderfully gnostic and masonic about their symbol.

[*Bob*]

Too many choices.

If I were you I'd take the easy way out and just soil my ballot paper.

[barrymarshall]

It doesn't matter who you vote for, the government always gets in.

[Jah Lush]

Damn! You beat me to it Barry.

[barrymarshall]

I actually remember you saying it the other week on the "Best advice" thread :))

There's always also, "If voting ever changed anything, they'd abolish it". I like that one too.

[mockney piers]

My votes have always been wasted votes, I've yet to manage to vote anyone in to anything and I don't intend to start now.

I reckon Partido Hache have to be the one. They're a light entertainment show, sort of saturday night live meets parkinson with a bit of spitting image thrown in. They've decided to stand for a bit of a laugh.

Oh, and Fear'n'Boozing (who has some sort of posting issue at work) has asked me to say that I will...

To answer your question DC I am indeed a Madrile?o, making me Castellano who claim to be the home of the truest Spaniards. My dad is Andalucian, an area which claims to be have truest Spaniards, unlike those darn Asturians who claim to be.....ad infinitum.

It's a wonder Spain functions as a country at all frankly. Got to love it though.

[pablogrande]

Hi Mockney

My Girlfriend is Spanish and the consulate have messed up her vote by post, no chance of voting on her behalf? I'm sure she wants to vote for the My family cannot talk at a reasonable volume party

[david_carnell]

Well the results are in and the Social(i*t) Party are victorious. Zapatero's mob even increased thier majority from the previous parliament. But this is Spain so of course they don't have a working majority! Full results are:

PSOE (Sociali*ts): 169

PP (Popular Party): 153

CiU (Catalan): 11

PNV (Basque Nationali*t): 6

ERC (Catalan lefti*t): 3

IU (United Left): 2

BNG (Galician Nationali*t): 2

CC (Canary Isles): 2

UPyD (Progress and Democracy): 1

NA-BAI (Navarre): 1

[mockney piers]

In madrid none of my parties made it. The greens very nearly got themselves a representative with just under 10000 votes, only about 100,000 short of the total needed. But the naturists (0) and the non-smokers (1500) where nowhere to be seen.

PP won it in Madrid.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Possibly the naturists and non-smokers should have combined - it could be painful to drop ash on one's extremities, so they seem natural bed-fellows.

[mockney piers]

Very good point PGC.

I can only guess that the 0 tally means nudity was banned at the polling stations.

[Michael Palaeologus]

Ay chihuahua! Time for a cervesa in the canteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeena !!

[Brendan]

Once again Michael P raises a poignant yet lesser known political issue. This time that of the unusually high incidence of alcoholism amongst Spanish lap dogs.