A few kilometers from Madrid, in the small town of Coslada, over 20% of the inhabitants are Romanians, part of the Romanian diaspora that voted massively, as in other places, for the nationalist George Simion in the first round of the presidential elections, in the hope of a "change" in Romania, AFP reported on Friday.
Near a market nicknamed "Romanian Market", where entrepreneurs used to recruit workers every morning for their jobs, several Romanians are sipping a "cafe con leche" (coffee with milk) on the terrace. They refuse to give their names, but all say they voted for George Simion, the leader of the nationalist AUR party who obtained the most votes on May 4 in the first round, 40.9% of the vote, achieving an even better result in the diaspora, where he accumulated over 60% of the votes (74% in Spain). A few days before the second round, which will take place on Sunday, all declare themselves "confident".
In Coslada, there are approximately 17,500 Romanians registered out of a population of 80,000. On the streets, many shop windows are bilingual and buses offer routes to Bucharest. In the "Economic Market Discount" store, almost all the products are from Romania, from beer bottles to pâtés or pickles.
At the counter, Mioara Mohora, who has lived in Spain for eight years, is packing salami. "Personally, I want a change. And everyone in my country wants this," says the 40-year-old woman, who voted for the far-right candidate, according to AFP. "Yes, it was a sanction vote. They took away our right to vote for whoever we wanted," she continues, referring to the annulment of the November 24 election and the exclusion of Calin Georgescu, the surprise candidate who came out on topafter a massive TikTok campaign overshadowed by suspicions of Russian interference.
"People who know a little know that these elections are illegal. They canceled what the people wanted," adds Mihaela Ionescu, 48, who spent 20 years in Spain, as she weighs minced meat in a nearby shop, "Carmangerie româneasca." However, she did not vote on November 24 or May 4, and she does not plan to do so on Sunday either. "Romanians are desperate. They want a hero," she confesses when asked about George Simion.
For Daniel Tecu, president of the Federation of Romanian Associations in Europe (Fadere), there are two categories in the Romanian economic diaspora.
There are "those who want to stay in the European Union, who have seen Romania develop within the EU and no longer want to have relations with Russia," he says. And, on the other hand, there are those who are "fed up with corruption, angry, who are not coming back because Romania is not what they want," Tecu continues. "They don't want the current political class, they want something new," he adds. In his opinion, the latter did not really vote for Simion, but "against the system."
The Botosani restaurant in front of the train station was visited a few months ago by George Simion, who travled to several countries in Europe before the November 2024 elections. On the restaurant's daily menu you can find beef soup, macaroni, chicken ciulama and... "intense" discussions, says the owner, Florin Pădurariu, aged 55.
"The diaspora has always voted for the pro-Europeans, but now it's over," he explains, following the conversations behind the counter. "I've always voted, but I've always been disappointed," he complains. Padurariu says he remains pro-European and voted on May 4 for Nicuşor Dan, the mayor of downtown Bucharest, who came in second in the first round, far behind George Simion.
Not surprisingly, the vote of his fellow citizens in the diaspora deeply disappoints him. "In 20 years here, haven't you learned anything? Europe allows you to support your mother, father and children thanks to the money you earn here," he laments.
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