Municipal elections in Spain: in Barcelona, an important election for the Spanish left

In Spain, 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 conservative nationalist Xavier Trias.

Ada Colau, the current mayor of Barcelona, at a meeting, May 13, 2023. AFP - JOSEP LAGO

Text by: Elise Gazengel Follow

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From our correspondent in Barcelona,

One of the trends in 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 was even 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 soufflé, the party no longer capitalizes. According to the polls, Ciudadanos would not even return to the mayor's office, going from six city councillors to 0, therefore, and at certain death.

2017 in the rearview mirror

The independence of Catalonia is no longer at the heart of the debates during this campaign. Indeed, even the pro-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 as a priority a new referendum four years ago, this year, he does not talk about it and imagines the Barcelona of 2030 without even mentioning independence.

For Junts, it is even more blatant: the party of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont – in exile in Belgium since 2017 – has Xavier Trias as its candidate and he deliberately hides the name of his party. It does not appear on posters, on the ballot paper or in meetings. Xavier Trias seems to refuse to be associated, or led, by the one who marked the independence of the region. The page is indeed turned here.

An important election for the Spanish left

The general elections will take place at the end of the year in the country and for the left, winning Barcelona is a trophy of weight. 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 Labour who created her own political movement a few months ago, breaking away from the Podemos label. She supports the current mayor Ada Colau and this election could be her first victory.

Pedro Sánchez and Yolanda Diaz will also be present on Friday 25 May in Barcelona for the last campaign meetings.

" READ ALSO – Yolanda Díaz, new figure of the Spanish radical left

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