Spanish consulate in Caracas faces safety concerns over voting venue for November election

Workers at the Spanish Consulate in Caracas, organized by CCOO, UGT and CSIF, have alerted the ambassador that the makeshift voting center at Quinta Marmolejo is structurally unsound, overcrowded and fails basic safety and hygiene standards. The venue, an old embassy building adopted after the original Torre España was rendered unusable by the magnitude-7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that caused over 6,300 deaths, also suffers from a lack of internet connectivity, preventing on-site printing of voting certificates and ballots.

The unions stress that forcing the election to be held there could lead to a “total failure” of the process and place responsibility on authorities who ignore the warnings. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led by José Manuel Albares, has issued a decree designating Quinta Marmolejo as a polling place from 21 to 26 November. With postal voting virtually impossible in Venezuela, the majority of the 130,363 registered Spanish voters are expected to vote in person, raising concerns about crowding and public order.