Lumley: The Green Party is the obvious choice in poll

Joanna Lumley is urging voters to shun mainstream politicians and instead back the Greens in next week's Euro elections.

Fresh from her triumph in securing immigration rights for Gurkha veterans, the actress has thrown her support behind the party for the 4 June poll. Party insiders believe Lumley's popularity will provide a huge boost to their campaign for the European Parliament.

Lumley, who so far has not shown interest in being a politician herself, said the public should make a “positive vote” for the party and has given her personal backing to Green Party leader and South-East MEP Caroline Lucas.

The actress and campaigner said: “Caroline Lucas is a tireless campaigner in the European Parliament, staunchly defending human rights and strongly promoting greater protection for animals.”

Both women have campaigned against human rights abuses in Burma and Lumley said the Green Party was “the obvious choice for real change”. “I urge you to cast a positive vote for a better future by voting Green in the European elections,” the actress said. Ms Lucas said: “I feel honoured to have her support.”

Paul Waugh - Evening Standard


It is the celebrity endorsement that all the major political parties would have loved to receive. But Joanna Lumley, who shamed ministers into granting immigration rights to Gurkha veterans, has given her backing in next week's European elections to the Greens.

Her decision is a blow for the Liberal Democrats who had been wooing the Absolutely Fabulous star during the Gurkha campaign.

But the actress – named as the female celebrity the public would most like to run the country – said the Greens were most likely to bring about real change. "I urge you to cast a positive vote for a better future by voting Green in the European elections," she added.

Nigel Morris - The Independant

Whether you are voting here in Spain or in the Uk in the European Elections it would be 'Absolutely Fabulous' if you vote for the GREEN PARTY.(In Spain vote LOS VERDES - GRUPO VERDE EUROPEO'

7 political groups in the European Parliament

Members of the European Parliament do not sit and act according to national groupings, but organise themselves into political groups. Political groups draw together political parties from across the EU which share ideological principles and political views. Parliament's rules currently specify that a political group must be composed of at least 20 members from at least one fifth of EU countries. In the outgoing Parliament there are seven political groups, (in order of size):

• EPP-ED: The European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats.
• PES: The Socialist Group in the European Parliament.
• ALDE: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
• UEN: Union for Europe of the Nations.
• Greens-EFA: Greens / European Free Alliance.
• GUE/NGL: European United Left/Nordic Green Party.
• IND/DEM: Independence and Democracy group.

Additionally, a number of members, not belonging to any political group, sit as independents or "non-attached"

On the 7th June in Orihuela Costa vote LOS VERDES - GRUPO VERDE EUROPEO'

5 big things the European Parliament did in the last 5 years

The laws the European Parliament passes make a real difference for Europeans, in their daily lives and in their work. Some are felt directly and immediately, some filter through the system via national laws; either way the Parliament makes a difference:

* REACH: Parliament broke legislative deadlock on a fearsomely complex proposal from the European Commission to ensure the passage of new laws requiring the registration of tens of thousands of chemical substances, the removal from circulation of many hazardous and toxic substances and providing research money to find replacements of others. Public health and the environment were the big beneficiaries.

* Passenger rights: Parliament passed into law new rules requiring transport operators to compensate passengers properly for delays and cancellations to which they fall victim. It also ensured that advertised ticket pricing (for example on websites) must clearly show include all charges and taxes passengers must pay.

* Freedom to work across the EU: In one of the hottest political debates of the term - on the so-called "services directive" - members of the European Parliament thrashed out the conclusive deal which allowed Europe to set clear and fair rules allowing providers of services large and small from all EU countries to operate freely across the EU.

* Global warming: The European Parliament addressed what many believe is the big issue of our times passing a package of laws which aims to achieve a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions, a 20% improvement in energy efficiency, and a 20% share for renewable energy in the EU energy mix by 2020.

* Cheaper phone calls: The European Parliament passed laws capping the amounts mobile phone companies can charge for calls made and received abroad, bringing an end to many disagreeable post-holiday surprises. Later, it turned its attention to text messages and data, introducing similar provisions.

These are only a taster of Parliament's activities between 2004 and 2009 and it's important that we cast our vote in the elections on the 7th June here in Spain.

Vote 'LOS VERDES - GRUPO VERDE EUROPEO'

Green Party News - 1 Million New Jobs

The UK Green Party wants to create 1 million new jobs renewable energy, home insulation, local agriculture and public transport.

If you're voting in the European Elections by post in the UK vote Green on the 4th of June.

Who is Ignorant about the Poor Cleaning of Orihuela?

Following the highlighting, by Los Verdes, of the problems being experienced by the residents of the Orihuela Municipality since the start of the new cleaning contract (1st May) by UTE, the PP Councillor for Infrastructure (including services) Sr. Manuel Abadía has responded as reported in 'informacion.es' and 'laverdad.es'.



He said that the statements made by Los Verdes were out of “ignorance” of the situation and said they should not report deficiencies only 20 days into the new contract.



He referred to the promised one off 'In-depth Cleaning' exercise (including removal of graffiti, chewing gum and the such like from the streets) stating that it will be starting on the 1st June.

In reply to the statements by Sr. Abadía, as reported in información.es, Los Verdes have to say that ignorance of the situation that is causing the poor performance of the new contract for rubbish collection and street cleaning is on the part of the Councillor.

He does not seem to be aware that the new proposed underground rubbish containers are not functioning yet. He seems to have forgotten that the management of the new contractor stated that the 'In-depth Cleaning' would be carried out from the start of the new contract on the 1st May.

He probably doesn't know that the Mayoress, Sra. Monica Lorente, said at the presentation awarding the new contract that the new equipment “would have the capacity in twenty seconds to clean an entire urbanisation”, a statement more appropriate to a character in a fantasy story than a supposed manager of the Orihuela Municipality.



Sr. Abadía seems to be more the manager of the new contractor, by the defence he makes for such a deficient cleaning service, than a Councillor of Orihuela who should be obtaining and demanding the best service for the rubbish collection and street cleaning for the good of all the citizens.

He chooses to ignore the fact that when the contract started on the 1st May it was 4 months behind schedule and that the company has had plenty of time to become aware of the needs of the Municipality.

He needs to appreciate that the statements and observations made by Los Verdes are as a result of listening to the comments and criticisms made by residents about the new service. Only by making the Councillor and his department aware of the failures in the service will changes and corrections happen.



A additional question that Sr. Abadía should be asking the contractor is when and where will Orihuela Costa be getting the missing new 120 'Recycling Points' in accordance with the terms of the contract like those already installed in Orihuela Town? Is this preferential treatment for Orihuela again?



The ignorance and statements of Sr. Abadía show his abominable management as leader
of the Council Department of infrastructure and again the failure of Mónica Lorente and the Orihuela PP.

New Rubbish Collection Service - Is it Better?

The Los Verdes party of Orihuela report that twenty days after the commencement of the new contract for the collection of household rubbish and street cleaning, it can be seen that the new service does not take into account the specific needs in respect of these two services in the municipality

In the Coast it is hard to see what has been done for the street cleaning. The old rubbish bins appear to be abandoned, left in the middle of the streets and we are in a high density tourist area (the photographs shown are in the majority of the Campoamor area). Many of them have not been emptied, are full and smell badly. Where there were four bins there is now only one larger bin but this is not sufficient. The result is that bags of rubbish are scattered in the street and not always collected. In the commercial centres the upturned old bins are mixed with the new ones which are full with rubbish bags crowded around them. In the Agua Marina commercial centre area the old bins remain and it isn't known if these are emptied because they are always overflowing with rubbish.

The collection of green garden rubbish continues as before, with rubbish left in the streets or next to the bins for weeks. The dumped building rubbish from small building or alteration work remains in the streets. Nobody knows where to take it except to leave it in the streets.


The company awarded the contract was perfectly aware when the contract began how many containers were needed. They were also aware that they must remove the old containers, not just put a new one and that's it. Well, no, at this time the new contractor works as the previous ones had done; badly.


Los Verdes regret that regarding the recycling of rubbish nothing has changed, everything is more of the same. The residents will have no choice but to find where each recycling container is, because they are not all together, each is located in a different area. Therefore those residents who want to separate their waste so that it can be recycled will have to be patient and find recycle bins in certain places on the Coast, it may be a long way. It is unfortunate that so far, and after going through many neighbourhoods, we have not seen any new 'Cleaning Points' (recycling bin sites) on the Coast


So it goes. We were led to believe it would all change for the better and that we would get a good value for money service for the taxes we pay.

The question is: What has changed for the better and for whom has it changed for the better?

Edited 20.05.2009
Articles: La Verdad.es & Informacion.es

Disruption to Passport Services between 15-27th July

The British Consulate General in Madrid will be moving to brand new premises in July.

Their new offices they say will provide customers with a more modern, customer-friendly environment, with improved facilities. At the same time, they will be introducing an upgraded IT system to help provide their customers with a more efficient service.

During the period of the move and changeover of IT systems, it is anticipatedthat there will be a disruption to the passport issuing service. Therefore British passport holders who are thinking of travelling over the summer, are strongly advise you to renew their passports now to ensure that they have their new passport when it's needed.

Don’t lose out!

If you are concerned that by renewing your passport before it has expired you’ll miss out on the full 10 years validity of your current passport, you needn’t be.

The Consulate has confirmed that any passport that is sent to be renewed which still has up to 9 months validity remaining, will have the still-valid time added as an extension. So for example if you’ve got a passport that expires in October 2009 but decide to renew it May 2009, a new passport will be issued that would be valid up to October 2019 (so 10 years plus 5 months).

Los Verdes Surgery - 27th May 2009

The fifth surgery of 2009 to be held by Councillor Monserrate Guillén, Los Verdes Councillor for the Coast, will be held on the Wednesday 27th May 2009 from 10.00 am to 12.30 pm at the Emerald Isle in La Florida in Orihuela Costa.

This is the opportunity for any residents of the coast to discuss their individual problems directly with their Councillor irrespective of which party they support.

As all the previous surgeries have been very busy, if someone wants to ask for a specific time, to reduce waiting, they should contact us by email at either losverdesinorihuelacosta@gmail.com, or telephone 686717273 to request a time if it's still available.

We provide translation facilities for English, French, German and Swedish into Spanish during the surgery.

The FREE Starter Kits, available for the People's 'Litter Pick-up' as part of the 'Clean up the Costa' campaign, will be available for collection during the surgery times from any of the Los Verdes members present.

It is also the opportunity to discuss the 'Dignity for the Disabled' campaign.

'Los Verdes - Grupo Verde Europeo' - European Elections

The 'Los Verdes - Grupo Verde Europeo' chose to launch their campaign for the European elections at the Biocultura 2009 exhibition of environmentally friendly products held this week in Barcelona.

The 'Grupo Verde Europeo' is the coming together of various regional Green Parties within Spain to form a coalition to present a united list of candidates for the European Parliament elections on the 7th June.



The list is headed up Kristien Lesage, who is spokesman for Los Verdes del Mediterráneo. Originally from Belgium, Kristien is now resident in Mislata in Valencia. She is a member of the Heerlen Group, a network of members of different Green Parties of Europe that work to promote the direct participation in taking European decisions.

Position two on the list is held by Esteban Cabal, a writer. In 1991 he was the first Los Verdes Councillor to be elected in the Madrid Comunidad. In 1999 he headed the list of European candidates and obtained the support of 150,000 votes. Professionally his links are in the field of natural and alternative therapies.

Josep Lluis Freijo, founder of 'Els Verdes de Cataluña' holds the third position and in addition is the coordinator of the electoral campaign. As a green entrepreneur, his work is related to the field of bio-and ecological projects.

The three candidates, accompanied by a group of members and supporters, toured Bioculture 2009, the natural products trade show being held in Barcelona, where they unveiled Green Party proposals to emerge from the ecological crisis.

All of them wore a green work helmet as a symbol of the 20 million jobs which could be created in Europe if the European Union implements the proposal from the European Green Party entitled "Green New Deal", an ambitious public investment in energy alternative and sustainable business sectors. "

The candidates of the 'Los Verdes - Grupo Verde Europeo' pledged to boost , from the EuroChamber, organic farming and the market for natural products, as well as bio-construction and the recognition of natural medicines.

The 'Los Verdes - Grupo Verde Europeo' expects to achieve half a million votes in the European elections of June 7, which will surely result in becoming the third political force in Spanish politics and give them representation in the European Parliament.

Think Again Vote Green

For those Ex-Pats who are going to vote for the European elections in the UK - Think Again Vote Green.

Markets Update - Campoamor Stays - Rastrillos No

Following discussions between Los Verdes Councillor for the Coast, Sr. Monserrate Guillén, and the PP Councillors, Sr. José Antonio Aniorte (Councillor for the Coast) and Sr. José Manuel Cutillas (Councillor with responsibility for markets) we are able to give an update on the markets situation in Orihuela Costa.

Campoamor Market.

The decision has been taken by the PP Councillors to leave the market at it's current location in Agua Marina and not to move it back to its original site in Campoamor during the summer months as originally planned.

This will please the current stall holders as they are more than happy with the current site.

Perhaps we should call it the Aqua Marina market from now on!

Rastrillo (Flea Market).

The news on this subject is not so good at this time but with hope for the future.

It has been confirmed to Los Verdes that there will not be any licences issued for Rastrillos to be held within restaurant premises such as the Emerald Isle, Celtic Isle or Asturias Restaurant.

The explanation given to Councillor Guillén by the PP Councillors is that as many applications had been received for permission to hold Rastrillos, it would not be justifiable to offer licences to all of them and to select a few whilst rejecting the majority would create an unacceptable precedent.

There is hope for the future in that it was also confirmed that it was the Council's intention to hold a Rastrillo on the original Campoamor market site, although no start date has been given.

Los Verdes will continue to monitor the situation with regards both markets and look for further discussions with the PP Councillors concerned to see the Rastrillo start at the very earliest opportunity.

Rules for the European Parliamentary elections

The first week of June should see millions of people exercise their right to vote for Members of the European Parliament. The EU does not have a single electoral law for these elections and many details are decided at a national level. Nevertheless, a basic set of rules has been established, which ensures that all MEPs are elected by universal suffrage in free elections by secret ballot, on the basis of proportional representation.

The rules for voting in European elections have developed since the Assembly was first conceived in 1957. The six founding countries envisaged a "uniform procedure" that they and Assembly Members would agree. This never developed as intended and national election rules have subsequently governed elections.

In 1976, the then nine Members of the Community agreed on a more general "Elections Act" for what became known as the European Parliament. This said that MEPs should be elected for five years, elections must be held within the same week, between Thursday and Sunday and the counting of votes may not start until polling stations are closed in all countries. It also said that MEPs may not also be Ministers in national governments or European Commissioners.

The Treaty of Amsterdam, which came into force in 1999, said that rules should be drawn up that follow common principles that would guide elections in the then 15 states of the European Union. A new election act in 2002 was first used in European elections for 25 countries in 2004.

All MEPs are elected by universal suffrage in free elections by secret ballot on the basis of proportional representation, rather than the first past the post system that had been used in some Member States and still is used for national elections.

However, countries can be subdivided into electoral regions to which proportional representation is applied. Ireland, the UK, Italy, France and Belgium use this system.

Countries can also impose a threshold not higher than 5% of all votes, at a national level, that a party or candidate must reach to be represented in the European Parliament.

Since the 2004 elections a member of the European Parliament cannot be a member of a National Government at the same time.

The mandate held by MEPs is personal and "they shall not be bound by any instructions and shall not receive a binding mandate."

The 1993 Maastricht Treaty legally introduced the notion of EU citizenship. With it came the possibility for EU citizens to vote in local and EP elections in the country where they live, regardless of nationality.

Citizens can also run for office in EP and municipal elections in a country other than their home EU state.

European Green Party - JOBS

Think Big - Vote Green European Green Party 2009

Having mentioned the European Green Party election campaign vidoes here is the first.

UK Green Party - Euro-election campaign videos

Are you a UK citizen registered to vote in the forthcoming European Elections in the UK as an overseas elector rather than here in Spain?

If you are then don't forget that if you agree with the ideals of the European Green Party you can show your support in the European Elections by using your vote in the UK to send more Green MEPs to the European Parliament.

The party will be putting forward a full list of candidates for the elections on the 4th June 2009 throughout the constituencies in the UK.

To compliment the series of election videos produced by the European Green Party, the UK Green Party is producing its own videos for the local and European elections. Caroline Lucas, the UK Green Party leader and MEP for the South East of England, asks us to look at areas of the country where the Greens are doing phenomenally well.

Caroline Lucas, in the first video, says it is important to have "people know, for example, that in Norwich, the Greens are the official opposition on Norwich City Council. Having people know that Brighton Pavilion is on the cusp of having its first Green MP. Places in London, like Lewisham are looking incredibly positive ... There's every evidence that when people believe that the Greens can actually get voted in, they will vote for us."

Future videos will outline support from prominent Green Party supporters in the UK.

The European elections will be on the 4th of June, 2009 in the UK, don't waste your opportunity to vote Green.

You can see a list of the UK Green Party European election candidates, region-by-region, here:

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/elections/euro-elections2009.html

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Orihuela Town Council meeting - 28th April 2009

At the full monthly meeting of the Orihuela Town Council (Pleno) held on Tuesday 28th April 2009 the following points which affect Orihuela Costa were discussed.

Urbanización Lomas de Cabo Roig.

The PP ruling party proposed to amend the Plan Parcial of the sector "Lomas de Cabo Roig" in relation to the three commercial building plots to increase build potential.

These three have the special feature of being located within the Urbanizations Villa Piedra, Las Amapolas and La Regia, near the toll motorway AP-7, in a totally urbanized and fully finished area.

Los Verdes and the other Opposition parties criticized the proposal by the PP for the following reasons.

1. There are already enough shops, many empty or closed, then there is no economic need, with being close to large shopping centres such as LIDL, ALDI, Mercadona, PetsWord, the future Alcampo supermarket, a petrol station with a shop 24 hours, etc.
   
2. Such trade will bring inconvenience to the retailer, day and night with bars and restaurants with high traffic and noise.
   
3. The council has not notified the neighbours of the Partial Plan amendment, who have not been able to submit objections to the draft amendment.
4. Once again, the PP does town planning changes for the benefit of its promoter friends.
   

Los Verdes and the other Opposition parties voted against the amendment but the PP used its majority vote to pass it. .

Los Verdes Motion on aid for trade in the municipality of Orihuela, including the Coast.

Los Verdes submitted a motion to propose measures to promote the opening and survival of shops within the Orihuela Municipality including Orihuela Costa. The party believes that this is necessary as the PP ruling team are failing in their obligations in this matter.

In the current context of crisis, the retail sector is one of the sections of the economy of Orihuela that is suffering most. Every day we see establishments closing and for those that survive it is becoming increasingly difficult. This phenomenon effects all types of shops including the large commercial shopping centres.

Los Verdes presented the motion with a series of specific proposals that seek to be simple and straightforward to encourage the creation of new businesses, facilitating the reduction in costs at the opening of establishments across all Orihuela. These included a reduction of 50% in the cost of licence applications for opening new businesses and an exemption from the fees for building permits, for opening or refurbishment of ground floor premises, provided that the work is undertaken by companies with a business address or registered office in Orihuela. In addition it was proposed that a direct payment of 1500€ be given to those employers who open a business in Orihuela and offer a contract of employment to an employee who is registered as living in the Orihuela Municipality.

To take advantage of the initiatives the employer would have to fulfil a number of requirements in that the business is up to date with payments to the tax and social security and has been in business for at least 2 years in cases of recruitment of workers show that the employee has been registered in Orihuela for at least 1 year.

Despite a vote in favour of the motion by Los Verdes and the other Opposition parties it was rejected by the PP using its majority in the Council.

Questions to the PP Councillors:

Los Verdes submitted the following questions for clarification to the PP governing team.

Playa de Punta Prima.

The 2007 budget included funding for an elevator to give access to this beach, with an amount of over 250,000€.

Following an announcement by Sra Monica Lorente, the PP Mayor of Orihuela, during a press conference on the 30th May 2008 that the lift is to be installed as part of the investment considered necessary to meet the conditions for obtaining a ‘Blue Flag’ for the beach, Los Verdes of Orihuela made the comment that we do not consider that the installation of an elevator within the Punta Prima playa is the most cost effective way of giving access to the beach to those visitors that have mobility problems. .

The question is: where is the elevator or where is the money?

Councillor for the Coast Sr. José Antonio Aniorte is to reply in writing to Los Verdes.

Fiestas on the Coast

Following the spate of fiestas on the Costa (St. Patrick's day, the Oktoberfest (in April) and St Georges day), all between the months of March-April, Los Verdes asked the PP governing team, a question specifically about the Oktoberfest, which lasted 16 days with moderate success according to the few local traders from the coast invited, when we know that the rental of a giant marquee with a capacity of 600 people and an area of about 1,000 m2, is approximately 40,000€.

The question is: how much did this event cost the taxpayers of the Orihuela Municipality?

Councillor for the Coast Sr. José Antonio Aniorte is to reply in writing to Los Verdes.