In Spain, the municipal elections take place this Sunday, May 28. In Barcelona, left-wing mayor Ada Colau, who is seeking a third term, is neck and neck with socialist Jaume Collboni and nationalist conservative Xavier Trias.
From our correspondent in Barcelona,
One of the tendencies of this election is the probable disappearance of the liberal party Ciudadanos. This party, born in Barcelona in 2006, had nevertheless reached the top in recent years: first in the Catalan elections in 2017, it had even been the third most voted party in Spain in the general elections of 2019. Since then, it has been the fall.
His desire in Madrid to replace the right is a failure. And in Catalonia, it was on the anti-independence wave that he had surfed, but faced with the deflation of the secessionist breath, the party no longer capitalizes. According to the polls, Ciudadanos would not even return to the town hall, going from six municipal councilors to 0, therefore, and to his certain death.
2017 in the rear view mirror
The independence of Catalonia is no longer at the heart of the debates during this campaign. Indeed, even the independence parties – both left (ERC) and right (Junts) – avoid the subject. On the left, Ernest Maragall, already a candidate in 2019, has the slogan “a mayor for all” and while he had a new referendum as a priority four years ago, this year he does not talk about it and imagines the Barcelona of 2030 without even mentioning independence.
For Junts, it’s even more blatant: the party of former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont – in exile in Belgium since 2017 – has Xavier Trias as candidate and he voluntarily hides the name of his party. It does not appear on the posters or on the ballot paper or in the meetings. Xavier Trias seems to refuse to be associated, or directed, by the one who marked the independence of the region. The page is well and truly turned here.
An important vote for the Spanish left
General elections will take place at the end of the year in the country and for the left, winning Barcelona is a heavy trophy. The Catalan capital has always given the pulse of the left.
The showdown will be between Pedro Sánchez, socialist and head of government, who is playing part of his future here while his candidate Jaume Collboni is in a good position in the polls. And, on the left of the left, Yolanda Diaz, the current Minister of Labor who created her own political movement a few months ago, detaching herself from the Podemos label. She supports current mayor Ada Colau and this election could be her first victory.
Pedro Sánchez and Yolanda Diaz will also be present on Friday May 25 in Barcelona for the last campaign meetings.
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