Eduardo González
Spanish consulates abroad have called for elections to renew or establish the Councils of Spanish Residents (CRE), as reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The voting will take place between April 28 and May 13 and will fill the CREs in 77 consular districts. The call for elections was published on January 15, but consulates have until February 15 to call the elections, so other districts could join the electoral process.
In accordance with Royal Decree 2009, which regulates the Councils of Spanish Residents Abroad, and Order 2010, which regulates the establishment, election, and operation of the Councils of Spanish Residents Abroad, all consular districts with more than 1,200 registered residents in the Electoral Census of Absent Residents (CERA) or that already have a functioning Council are entitled to establish a CRE. In the last elections, held in 2021, almost one hundred consulates were entitled to establish a CRE, but voting took place in only 38.
Spaniards registered in the Register of Spaniards Resident Abroad corresponding to each Consular Office in the month prior to the date of publication of the election call and who have reached the age of majority before the date of proclamation of candidacies are eligible to run.
Likewise, all Spaniards registered in the aforementioned Register of Spaniards Resident Abroad in the month prior to the publication of the election notice and who have reached the age of majority before the election date are eligible to vote for the Council of Spanish Residents.
The CREs are consultative and advisory bodies that represent the Spanish community abroad. They are attached to consular offices and serve as a communication channel between the Spanish community abroad and the consulates to defend their civil, labor, and cultural rights and to improve consular services.
Elections have already been confirmed at the consulates in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Stuttgart (Germany); Andorra, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, and Rosario (Argentina); Sydney and Melbourne (Australia); Vienna (Austria); and La Paz and Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia). Brasilia, São Paulo and Salvador de Bahia (Brazil), Brussels (Belgium), Montreal (Canada), Santiago de Chile (Chile), Bogotá (Colombia), Havana (Cuba), Quito and Guayaquil (Ecuador); Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Washington (United States); San Salvador (El Salvador), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Manila (Philippines), Helsinki (Finland), Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Paris, Perpignan, Pau and Toulouse (France), Athens (Greece), Guatemala City, Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Dublin (Ireland), Milan, Naples and Rome (Italy); Tokyo (Japan), Luxembourg City, Casablanca (Morocco), Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey (Mexico); Managua (Nicaragua), Oslo (Norway), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Panama, Asunción (Paraguay), Lima (Peru), Warsaw (Poland), Lisbon (Portugal), Doha (Qatar), Edinburgh and London (United Kingdom); Prague (Czech Republic), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Moscow (Russia), Singapore, Istanbul (Turkey), Geneva and Zurich (Switzerland); Montevideo (Uruguay) and Caracas (Venezuela).
