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Property in Spain spurs new party - 5 June 2009

Yesterday’s elections to the European Parliament are likely to provide Gordon Brown’s government here in the UK with an even more bloody nose than it already has following weeks of revelations over MPs expenses and a loss of confidence in the leadership of the Labour party. However, he will perhaps be grateful not to be running for office in Spain, where this week’s elections have provided the first public outing for a new party based on an anti-corruption platform – and which has much vocal support from expatriate Brits.

The Centro Democratico Liberal (DCL) has been modeled on the Liberal Democrats from the UK, and aims to take up the centre ground between Spain’s mainstream socialist and conservative parties. One of the main targets of this new party is the disgruntled foreign population, and the DCL promises to tackle corruption and the urban planning issues that has plagued the coastal areas popular with expat buyers.

While this is not the first time foreign nationals have stood for election in Spain – several Brits have already taken seats on local councils on the Costas – it will be the first time non-Spanish candidates have attempted to win European Parliament seats.

Jacqueline Cotterill is the top Briton on the DCL’s national membership list. She moved to Spain from Coventry in 1990 and is already the deputy mayor of Parcent on the Costa Blanca. “I never imagined I would get involved in politics but I had to stand up for the rights of those who have made their homes here,” she told the Daily Telegraph.

“Local corruption and poor planning laws have caused huge problems for so many of the British people who have bought homes out here. This new party is committed to reforming land laws in line with the EU recommendations and upholding the rights of European citizens – something which has unfortunately been lacking here in Spain.

Meanwhile, Spain’s housing market has continued to show signs of the strain under which it is operating in the current financial climate. The biggest property exhibition in Spain took place at the end of May in Madrid, and the signs of recovery still seem to be some way off.

Two-thirds of the exhibitors at last year’s show were absent this time around, and those who did attend were offering discounts of up to 50 per cent on their projects. Banks, who used to attend these shows purely to attract mortgage customers, had substantial stocks of property to sell as they tried to shift the properties they have accrued from indebted property developers.

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