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2024 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

Which foreigners in Spain can vote in European elections?

Which nationalities in Spain can vote in the upcoming European elections?

Published: 5 June 2024 10:49 CEST
Which foreigners in Spain can vote in European elections?
People choose ballots before casting their vote for the European, regional and local elections in Barcelona on May 26, 2019. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP)

From June 6th to 9th, millions of people across Europe will go to the polls to elect members to the European Parliament – the world’s only multinational legislature. In Spain polling day is, as always, on a Sunday, so Spaniards will head to the polls on June 9th.

Spaniards will join voters around the continent to elect 720 members for a 5-year mandate. The distribution of seats takes into account each country’s population. Germany will elect the largest number (96), for example, while Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta the smallest (6).

Spain gets 61 seats, just behind neighbouring countries like France, with 81, and Italy, who elect 76.

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But it’s not just Spaniards who can vote in the European elections in Spain. Foreigners can also vote in the polls, but not all of them, and whether or not you can depends on where you’re from and your nationality.

Who can vote in European elections in Spain?

In order to vote in Sunday’s election in Spain, you must:

  • Be 18 years old
  • Have Spanish nationality and reside in Spain or abroad (where you can vote from in member state of residence)
  • Or be a national of another EU country resident in Spain

EU citizens who live in another EU member state can vote or stand or run in local and European elections across the block (and can even be elected as mayors and local councillors) but cannot vote in national or general elections.

This means that any EU citizen resident in Spain may vote in local or European elections, provided they are registered on the census and have signed the appropriate voting paperwork.

On the other hand, UK or US nationals or any other non-EU citizens who are residents in Spain cannot vote in the European elections.

For them, the only way to be able to vote in European elections would be to get Spanish citizenship or another EU citizenship.

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Member comments

  1. What a Load of Crap, because we are British, you still want to punish us even though you need us for our Tax’s and our money to keep your country running

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POLITICS

Judge insists Spain’s PM testify in person in wife’s corruption probe

A Spanish judge on Friday rejected Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's request to testify in writing in a preliminary corruption probe into his wife's business ties.

Published: 26 July 2024 18:11 CEST
Judge insists Spain's PM testify in person in wife's corruption probe

Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, who is leading the inquiry, maintained Sánchez’s hearing for next Tuesday at 11:00 am (0900 GMT), according to a court filing seen by AFP.

He said he had summoned Sánchez as the spouse of Begoña Gómez, not as prime minister — which would have allowed the Socialist premier to testify in writing as he had requested.

The judge is scheduled to question Sánchez at the premier’s official residence.

But Sánchez can testify at a later date in writing about “relevant facts of which he has had knowledge by reason of his position”, the judge added.

The only other time a sitting Spanish prime minister had to testify in a judicial case was in 2017 when Mariano Rajoy was summoned in a graft case that led to the conviction of several members of his conservative Popular Party (PP).

Gomez is being investigated for alleged influence peddling and corruption following a complaint filed by an anti-graft NGO with links to the far-right called “Manos Limpias” – Spanish for “Clean Hands”.

Sánchez claims harassment

Sánchez has denied any wrongdoing by his wife, repeatedly dismissing the allegations as part of a smear campaign against his government.

Sánchez can appeal the judge’s ruling that he must testify in person, or he can choose not to testify.

His wife invoked her right to remain silent under questioning by a judge earlier this month.

Gómez, has worked in fundraising for years, notably for foundations and NGOs. She is alleged to have used her husband’s position as leverage within her professional circles, notably with businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés who was seeking public funding.

In his testimony, Barrabés – who teaches part of a master’s course at Madrid’s Complutense University that is run by Gómez – acknowledged meeting her five or six times at Moncloa, the premier’s official residence.

Sánchez, in power since 2018, was also present at two of those meetings, he said.

Barrabés — who got two letters of recommendation from Gómez before pitching for a public tender worth several million euros – said they only talked about matters of innovation, judicial sources said.

When the probe was opened in April, Sánchez shocked Spain by saying he was considering resigning over what he denounced as a campaign of political harassment by the right.

He took five days to reflect but ultimately decided to stay on.

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