There is no political party that does not come out to win the elections. That goes ahead. But for Junts per Catalunya (or for the PDECat, in the few municipalities where it survives), and specifically in the Barcelona metropolitan area, it is more about achieving a decent result. Or, even more, manage not to leave the score at zero. The current post-convergence panorama in Barcelona and its surroundings can be explained with an example: in more than half of the city councils of the Baix Llobregat this political space simply does not exist. It doesn’t even have a councilman. The same thing that happens in not minor cities like Santa Coloma de Gramenet.
The problem, they explain in the PDECat and in Junts, it is not new. He comes from afar. On the one hand, due to the sociological composition of the metropolitan area. On the other, some argue, due to the little attention that the convergent Government has had in the past to give weight and prominence to these municipalities, in order to be able to ‘sell’ local candidates better. Another not minor issue, they admit, is the difficult situation that CiU, CDC and the PDECat have gone through in the different refoundations. “This has distanced us from many voters, and recovering them will not be easy,” says a local official.
JxCat’s Umbrella
While the PDECat has practically thrown in the towel, in Junts jordi sanchez He has personally piloted a plan to accumulate the maximum number of applications under the JxCat umbrella. The intention is to achieve a worthy defeat against ERC, which experienced a remarkable rise three years ago in this Barcelona belt.
In cities such as Gavà or Castelldefels Junts there is only one councilor. In the latter municipality, forming part of the local government. But the environment is a desert: without representation in Sant Boi, Viladecans, Cornellà, el Prat, Sant Esteve Sesrovires or Sant Andreu de la Barca. The great exception is Martorell, where Junts governs with 12 stable councillors.
It is not easy for Junts to come back in cities like L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, where you have no councillor. Or Badalona, where it has a testimonial seat in the town hall -forming part of the multiparty government- or also in such notable cities as Granollers, Sabadell, Terrassa or Mataró, where it only has 4, 3, 2 and 2 councillors, respectively. Its figures are often equal to those of Ciutadans. Away from the predominant parties.
Barcelona, separate chapter
Special mention deserves the capital. In Barcelona, the convergent space has gone in just seven years from having the mayor’s office to occupying a residual position outside any government option with only five councillors. The candidate will continue to be, except for surprises, Elsa Artadi, but in Junts there is no particular optimism regarding the possibilities of the deputy and councillor. Things get a little more complicated if Centerm (the umpteenth convergent refoundation, despite the fact that it denies being one) presents itself with its own list in the capital and manages to garner a few hundred votes that may be detrimental to those of Artadi.
Three years ago, on the fateful municipal electoral night of Junts -which only saved Puigdemont’s victory in the European elections- the bases were already talking about initiating a “deep reflection”. It is one of the topical phrases of politics on nights of defeat. Since then, the space has frayed (PDECat-Junts divorce, appearance of smaller satellites, unknowns about how they will appear one and the other in the next year), while ERC consolidated its space.
The formula
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In the words of one person directly involved in post-convergence municipalism, there is no secret to success. “It is about -she affirms- not about doing politics but about making a city, a municipality, being a good mayor. A lot of dedication, a lot of work, a lot of street and a lot of listening to the neighbors”. “I have explained it to mine a thousand times, but they have never listened to me,” she confesses.
It is true that Junts can argue that it is a party with less than two years of life that does not assume the previous backpack of the PDECat as its own, despite the fact that in 2019 it already competed hand in hand with the post-convergents.