Soller Road Show

Kate Mentink with Anna Nicholas

First things first. Sincere thanks to Anna Nicholas and Michel Taymans for their invaluable help and a heartfelt ‘muchos thankuse’ to Andres Gilabert for arranging for us to have use of his superb Gran Hotel for our meeting, not to mention laying on a continuous and uninterrupted supply of cocktails and finger food in the gardens where the ‘Road Show’ continued under a typical Summer Soller star lit night sky.

EporE had the opportunity to explain who we are, what we have achieved to date and where we are going whilst our guests were able to give their opinions and explain their worries and hope for the future. Disturbingly one of the subjects that came to light when discussing the right to vote and the procedure to do so was the assurance from several Sollerics that the Town hall were adamant that they did not have any forms available to register non-Spanish European residents on the Electoral Register (necessary in order to obtain the right to vote). Sadly this is not the first time that we have been confronted with this problem as it was all too often the norm in a significant number of villages and smaller towns prior to the 2007 Municipal Elections. The truth is that every Town Hall throughout Spain and in particular throughout the Baleares has copious supplies of the necessary documentation. Whilst, occasionally, funcionarios or department heads dealing with such matters may be unaware of what the relevant paperwork is or indeed what it even looks like, all too often this has not been the case. Denying registry for the right to vote is unforgivable, quite apart from being illegal! EporE will be making the necessary inquiries to ascertain if there is a problem in Soller or just another little ‘misunderstanding’ in order that those who are not yet registered can do so before the next elections (May 2011) without problem or hindrance.

To those Sollerics who joined us as members, ‘welcome aboard’ and to all who took the time and effort to find out what EporE is all about, we look forward to seeing you again.

Footnote. Pure coincidence but on the day the EporE ‘Road Show’ arrived in Soller the council announced that they are effectively bankrupt having run up debts of over 27,000,000 euros. Makes you think doesn’t it, particularly with municipal elections looming just over the horizon!