The debate between TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio between the mayors of Barcelona has split into two. On the one hand, the four candidates leading the polls, Ada Colau (Comuns), Xavier Trias (Junts), Jaume Collboni (PSC) and Ernest Maragall (ERC)) and, on the other, the three representatives of the constitutionalist conservative parties: Daniel Sirera (PP), Eva Parera (Valents) and Anna Grau (Citizens) . In the leading group, Maragall and Trias reminded time and again that little renewal and change can be offered by someone like Collboni, who has spent the last eight years acting as Ada Colau’s right hand.
The mayoress was pleased to attend the debate between the three and even signed up on a few but devastating occasions to the reminder that the socialists have been by her side in the eight years in office. Of course, he later abandoned, a few weeks ago, the tenure of mayor, leaving “ shot to the city of Barcelona by resigning to run for mayor”. And later, in the bloc on tourism, he blurted out that the PSC candidate “speaks from within the municipal government and from outside in the same thematic bloc.” Colau, however, remained firm in its objective, which was none other than to spur, at the slightest crack, polarization with Xavier Trias.
The first volley against the socialist mayor came after five seconds, when the Republican, winner in the 2019 elections, called him a “Madrid delegate” under the command of whom, if he were to become mayor, Barcelona would lose all “ability to decision”. Soon it was Trias who described him as “Colau’s altar boy”. Issues were falling and Collboni’s response was to underline that the debate was turning everyone against him’, little less, he asserted, “because they know I’m going to win.” Here, the post-convergent brought out his funniest wondering side “And you believe this?”. Maragall and Trias barely interacted with each other, unlike what happens in campaign events where the Republican has already mentioned 3% and the condemnation of the former right-hand man of the post-convergent, Antoni Vives. And it is that the debate was seen throughout Catalonia and ERC believes that the attack between pro-independence forces has a negative impact on it at the polls.
Snack in Flanders
In the meantime, and given the unanimity against Colau of the three parties that are at stake or not in the Barcelona consistory, the conservative trio wanted to mark mutual differences with the language they used. Grau and Sirera praised bilingualism and the popular sought a certain ‘spicy effect in Flanders’ by pointing out that “TV3 must also use the two languages of Catalonia as normal”.
Colau was aware of Trias. When the postconvergent denied the veracity of some data, the mayoress quickly asked him if she was calling the workers of the municipal health agency “liars.” And as a curiosity, it is worth noting that both blamed each other for the respective government works, between 2011 and 2015, one and since 2015, the other.
The ideological axes, yes, were changing. Thus, for example, in mobility, both Trias and Maragall agreed that Colau’s problem “was that you throw dogmas on the debates and what is needed is respect for the citizenry,” according to the Republican. For the post-convergent, citizen mobility “must come out of consensus.”
Sirera, Grau and Parera jumped at the jugular of the three leftist representatives on the issue of security, always with the events of Bonanova in the background. In particular, they tickled Collboni, because of what they share part of the voting pool, in terms of national affiliation. And here, Colau and Maragall coincided both ideologically and practically.
Colau, to remove against Collboni
In the scuffle between the Republican and the Socialist on account of the alleged non-incorporation of Mossos d’Esquadra agents into the city, something that Collboni stated and for which Maragall called him a “liar”, the mayoress intervened to assert that the collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior (in the hands of ERC) “has improved a lot”. Colau’s interventions on his former deputy mayor were few, but surgically chosen.
Trias avoided mentioning the occupations and percussed security management based on the international image of the city. Just as in terms of cleaning, he used that tone that in his day was successful: “What about cleaning? Well, the streets are dirty!” He exclaimed, almost for the only time, the laughter of the participants. .
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In terms of housing, Collboni took pride in the Government’s law on the sector and its instruments to contain the rise in rental prices. And here he earned another surgical intervention: “I’m glad he’s joining the car now,” ironized the mayoress, “because it took me eight years to do it”
Maragall was careful to divide his time between his natural habitat, that of explaining his proposals, and having to hit, especially Collboni. Few interactions took the post-convergent from the republican. Collboni, fajador, endured the downpour of the rest and tried to convey that he had come to the debate to explain his program.