{"id":1406,"date":"2019-11-08T10:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T09:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonneil.com\/blog\/?p=1406"},"modified":"2026-06-05T11:20:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T09:20:54","slug":"voting-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonneil.com\/blog\/en\/voting-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"Voting and running for office in Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A little-known fact\namong expats living in Spain is that if you are a full-time resident in the\ncountry you are entitled to vote in local and European elections. An even\nlesser known fact is that you can actually stand as a candidate in local\nelections and even run for mayor. All EU citizens have &#8220;the right to vote\nand stand as a candidate in municipal and European Parliament elections\nregardless of whether they are a national of the EU country in which they\nreside,&#8221; the European Commission confirms on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, only around\n54 percent of EU citizens are aware of this provision, according to a 2016\nsurvey.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to\nparticipate in local politics in Spain, the first thing you need to do is to\nget registered on the municipal census (empadronamiento) at the local\nayuntamiento or town hall. This will allow you to register on the Spanish\nelectoral lists and vote in municipal and European elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Voting in Spain<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can vote and\nstand as candidates in the municipal elections under the following\nconditions:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That you be a\nnational of a Member State of the European Union&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That you be\nregistered on the municipal census in Spain and domiciled in the municipality\nwhere you want to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That you be at least\n18 years old<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You will need to provide\nthe town hall with a written declaration stating your nationality, address in\nyour home country and your right to vote there. Except in special cases, in order to\nvote, you must register before the end of the year preceding the poll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that\u2019s it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s worth mentioning\nthat registering to vote in Spain doesn\u2019t mean having to give up your right to\nvote in your country of origin. Some Member States allow you to cast your vote\noverseas, whereas others, like Ireland, require that you return home to vote in\nperson.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Standing for election<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to an EU\nwebsite \u201cNationals of another EU country must be resident in the EU country\nwhere they wish to stand as a candidate and comply with the same conditions as\nset out for nationals,\u201d However, the website adds \u201cNo person may stand as a\ncandidate in more than one EU Member State at the same election.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spain reported the\nhighest number of non-national candidates standing in municipal elections:\n1,913 in polls before 2018. And unlike many other EU member states, in Spain,\nnationals from other EU countries can even run for higher offices such as\nmayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The requirements for\nstanding as a candidate are the exact same as those required to vote, on top of\nwhich, of course you will need to register your candidacy with the relevant\nauthorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A little-known fact among expats living in Spain is that if you are a full-time resident in the country you are entitled to vote in local and European elections. An even lesser known fact is that you can actually stand as a candidate in local elections and even run for mayor. All EU citizens have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[110,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formalities-paperwork","category-get-to-know-spain"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Voting and running for office in Spain<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A little-known fact among expats living in Spain is that if you are a full-time resident in the country you are entitled to vote in local and European elections. An even lesser known fact is that you can actually stand as a candidate in local elections and even run for mayor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Voting and running for office in Spain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A little-known fact among expats living in Spain is that if you are a full-time resident in the country you are entitled to vote in local and European elections. An even lesser known fact is that you can actually stand as a candidate in local elections and even run for mayor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sonneil.com\/blog\/en\/voting-spain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sonneil Homes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SonneilHomes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-08T09:00:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T09:20:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sonneil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/04-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sonneil\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sonneilhomes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sonneilhomes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sonneil\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/en\\\/voting-spain\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/en\\\/voting-spain\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sonneil\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4f2459627d38234c09e354e49a31711d\"},\"headline\":\"Voting and running for office in Spain\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-08T09:00:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-05T09:20:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/en\\\/voting-spain\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":459,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/en\\\/voting-spain\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/04-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Formalities &amp; paperwork\",\"Get to know Spain\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/en\\\/voting-spain\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/en\\\/voting-spain\\\/\",\"name\":\"Voting and running for office in Spain\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/en\\\/voting-spain\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/en\\\/voting-spain\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/04-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-08T09:00:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-05T09:20:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sonneil.com\\\/blog\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4f2459627d38234c09e354e49a31711d\"},\"description\":\"A little-known fact among expats living in Spain is that if you are a full-time resident in the country you are entitled to vote in local and European elections. 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