Abstract

ORTEGA GIMENEZ, Alfonso  and  HEREDIA SANCHEZ, Lerdys Saray. El derecho al voto de los extranjeros en las elecciones municipales españolas. ¿Integración o interés?. Anu. Mex. Der. Inter [online]. 2008, vol.8, pp.587-598. ISSN 1870-4654.

The idea of integrating the immigrants in the circle of civil participation is the nucleus of the system of integration. Nevertheless, the participation in the public life of a country is not the only element that can place an immigrant in conditions of integration. The spanish panorama counts the right of public participation among the catalogue of rights and freedoms which foreigners enjoy in spain, but the exercise of this right is still limited to those who legally reside in our country. It is necessary to implement a wider political effort which includes other aspects of the reality of immigration -such as the protection of fundamental rights, access to the labour market, health assistance in conditions of equality, etc.- where the right to vote is constructed on solid bases of performance and not as just another element in an electoral campaign aimed at vote getting.