Taxation without representation
Millions of “foreigners” are left out in the polls every four years, including those who consider Spain to be “their country.”
Like any small child in Spain, she’s often subject to random acts of kindness from strangers on the street. But before my daughter managed to stand on her own two feet, she was given a number. It began with a “Y.”
From that moment, the Spanish street and the Spanish State became two very different entities. Nine months old, she already had her NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) — the baby in the Pontevedra police station became a foreigner (extranjera) like her Irish father and Brazilian mother.
As a resident in Spain she will, of course, enjoy the many benefits that living here entails: free healthcare, decent and affordable education, good public transport, and the Mediterranean climate and diet.
She will eventually pay her taxes, but there’ll be a catch: she may not have the right to vote. It would mean not having a say on what happens to the money she contributes to the state. She could start her own business, create employment, and generate further wealth for the land of her birth, but the responsibility of electing those who dictate fiscal policies would be in the hands of others.
When a vote is a privilege
