Holiday rentals news - European elections: British expats stand in anti corruption party in Spain

European elections: British expats stand in anti corruption party in Spain

A group of British expatriates in Spain have formed a political party to stand in today's European elections. The Centro Democratico Liberal (CDL) party is modelled on Britain's Liberal Democrats.

The CDL hopes to take the middle ground between Spain's two main parties - the ruling PSOE and the Popular Party (PP). The party wants to win the vote of Spain's "disgruntled" foreign population, reports The Daily Telegraph.

In a bid to win votes from fellow expatriates, the CDL promises to tackle corruption and urban planning abuses that have become rife on Spain's southern coast. Many foreign home owners have had to face the prospect of their illegally built homes being demolished, while others with villas in Spain have fallen victim to Valencia's 'land grab' law.

The party's Jacqueline Cotterill, originally from Coventry, told the paper: "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 EU recommendations and upholding the rights of European citizens - something which has unfortunately been lacking here in Spain."

The CDL's attempts mark the first time that non-Spanish candidates have stood in European elections in the country. "I never imagined I would get involved in politics, but I had to stand up for the rights of those who have made their home here. The mainstream Spanish political parties haven't taken much notice of European residents here, but we are a resource - we pay taxes and yet we have had no political representation until now," Cotterill said.

New figures released this week show that foreigners now make up 12 per cent of Spain's population, according to typicallyspanish.com. The data published by INE, the country's national statistics institute, reveals that the foreign population had grown by 6.3 per cent over the past year.

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