tarragona, Lleida and, ‘in extremis’, Barcelona. The PSC has fulfilled its objective this Saturday of establishing itself as the main force in Catalonia, after leaving the polls for the second time as the party with the most votes, betting on a variety of local pacts, largely on account of the dispute between ERC and Junts. The impossibility of governing Girona city despite having won by an independence alliance was compensated by the transfer of the commons and the PP in the Catalan capital, with a minority government of Jaume Collboni pending to gather support after being invested. Beyond this no less handicap, the great pending subject of Salvador Illa it continues to be the Generalitat, a path that continues to clear the brush, agreeing to the left and right.
Because tied to the Socialists, although under a Republican presidency, are the councils of Tarragona and Lleida -the one in Girona was agreed between ERC and Junts-, but the Barcelona Provincial Council. The Socialists are holding open two-way talks with both Republicans and post-convergents, although they have not hidden that they would not mind reissuing the alliance with Junts again. But, according to the reaction of the two pro-independence parties after the operation that separated Xavier Trias, nor is it ruled out to be able to reissue the same arithmetic that has been executed in the consistory.
In the headquarters of the three parties, all the options are studied, now also influenced by the exchange of reproaches, but there is time to negotiate during the next week. And no one rules out at this moment that the operation with which Collboni has managed to be mayor has as a ‘boomerang effect’ a complex independence alliance that would go ahead if the PP does not give its votes to the PSC to prevent it.
Whatever the outcome, all the provincial capitals already have a renewed appearance. In Girona, which was the fiefdom of Carlos Puigdemont, has become the example of the pro-independence unity that was proclaimed but not achieved at a global level thanks to the pact between Guanyem, Junts and ERC that has slowed the pace of the PSC; although now the mayor is the anti-capitalist luc salellas.
The Socialists recover, after a four-year hiatus in the hands of ERC, Tarragona and Lleida. illa wanted to witness in person how Ruben Vinualesthe signing that he made a little more than two years ago from the ranks of Cs, raised the stick from Tarragona, while Felix Larrosa it returns to the party a place that until 2019 had only known 40 years of socialist government.
For the PSC, beyond its large metropolitan majorities and the red belt, its main source of votes, these two mayoralties, as well as others such as Reus, Vilafranca del Penedès or Balague, symbolize the recovery of territorial power with which they are inaugurating their mandate. But the PP is also recovering metropolitan ground. ‘resurfaces’ Xavier Garcia Albiolstrengthened after a motion of censure that removed him from office in a position that the Socialists have not managed to maintain, and Manu Reyeswhich achieves the Castelldefels rod with the support of a split from the PSC.
The extreme right will govern Ripoll
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The focus of the conference, beyond Barcelona, was on Ripollwhere the Junts councilors refused to join the ERC, PSC and CUP to weave a sanitary cordon to the extreme right and did not prevent Silvia Orriols, winner in votes and leader of Aliança Catalana, has risen with the rod of command. The post-convergent direction disavowed the maneuver via statement of its councilors, who did not abide by the order of the leadership, while criticizing that partisanship “would prevail over the necessary unity against fascism.” In discount time, they offered to lead the pact and take over the mayoralty, despite the crossed veto with the CUP. Orriols announced that his first decision will be to close the town’s mosque, in line with his racist and Islamophobic discourse.
To the seed planted by the pro-independence extreme right in Ripoll are added the 124 Vox councilors that have taken possession throughout Catalonia. There were several anti-fascist protests that were called before the town halls, including Barcelona. In Santa Coloma there was an anecdote of the impact of a stone on a window. In Girona, Vox demanded the photo of the King and Salellas took the rod himself to prevent the far-right representative from handing it over to him. The x-ray of the mandate starts very different from that of four years ago.