Veïns de Parcent - Newsletter Nº 46 - 8th March 2007
Dear friends,
MEP visit
The visit by the MEPs from the EP Petitions Committee went off exceedingly well and, despite the PP and developers trying to win
them over with their fancy display of plans and videos, Michael Cashman assured me as he left the Salon de Actos in the town hall "Don't
worry, we were not born yesterday!", as his subsequent remarks to the press bore out. The Mayoress seemed quite flustered when asked
for specific details and had to be helped out by the Terras de l'Horta representative. Pere Far was able to refute some of the dubious
facts that they quoted, such as that 90% of the proprietors wanted the development - rather than 90% of the land held by a much
smaller number of owners, probably including the mountainside to get to such a large figure.
Thanks to everyone who turned out to cheer the delegation and to make their moving statements. Very grateful thanks too, to Peta D'Arch for allowing us to use her lovely house and garden to meet with them, as we had been refused the use of the Cooperativa. The priest did give us permission to use the church, but we decided against this as it could cause even more friction in the village. He apparently preached a sermon about the abuse of power after we had asked him! Also many thanks to the ladies who provided the refreshments.
CDP
The CDP are holding regular meetings to draw up their list of candidates and write their manifesto. We are keeping this under wraps
for the time being but all will be revealed at the beginning of April, when lists have to be ready. We are putting together an
experienced team that will be able to hit the ground running immediately after the elections, as there will be no time to lose.
Elections
In the meantime, and from now on, stories will circulate in the village about anyone who can remotely be said to support the VP or
the CDP - and some of them will be vicious. Take no notice - if you don't know by now what we all stand for, I give up! We are
committed to ousting the PP at the elections and stopping their disastrous plans. Everything else is secondary, though that doesn't
mean that we will not address other problems in due course.
For your interest, the table below shows a rough idea of how many voters there are:
Approximate numbers of population/voters in Parcent
| Spanish voters | 528 | 72% | As at 1 Jan 07 – INE website |
| Spanish voters registered abroad | 26 | >4% | As at 1 Jan 07 – INE website |
| European voters | 181 | 25% | As on 31 Jan 07, from electoral office |
| Total voters | 735 | 100% | = 72% of total inhabitants (1019 on 1 Jan 07) |
| Non-voters approx | 284 | 28% | children & non-resident / unregistered voters |
Total inhabitants (Padrón) | 960 | 72% | As at 1 Jan 06 – INE website |
Spanish | 623 | 65% | As at 1 Jan 06 – INE website |
Europeans | 337 | 35% | As at 1 Jan 06 – INE website |
Children up to age 18 | 110 | 11.5% | Estimate as at 1 Jan 06 |
As you can see, accurate numbers are hard to find and not all at the same cut-off date. But it gives us an idea. When the Electoral Roll list is on display in the town hall we will have a chance to make 'reclamaciones' for those whose details are wrong or missing, so maybe we can increase the number of European voters a little. As soon as I have dates for the period of display, I will let you know.
Likewise, those who require a postal vote - details as soon as I know the dates.
Residents group
We had our first meeting at the Piscina Bar on 26th February and over 30 people attended, mostly Brits, but some Dutch as well. The
minutes of this meeting, kindly done by Tracey Lancaster, are being sent out separately.
After all the excitement of the last few weeks, maybe it will be quiet for a few days!?
All best wishes,
Jenny