The mayor Ada Colau has come out against the statements of the ERC leader in the Barcelona City Council, who insinuated that the first mayor knew of the espionage of the National Intelligence Center (CNI) on the negotiations to form a government in the Barcelona City Hall after the municipal elections of 2019. In a brief message through Telegram, Colau has pointed out that "insinuating that he has had some complicity or collusion with espionage is outrageous."
The mayor of Barcelona is "hurt" by the insinuations of the head of the municipal opposition (later nuanced), especially coming from "a person like Ernest Maragall, representative of a left-wing party and colleague in the City Council".
As a result of the information published yesterday by La Vanguardia, Ernest Maragall appealed to Ada Colau and the first socialist deputy mayor, Jaume Collboni, of whom he said he hoped they would be "worthy of their responsibilities." The Republican leader also pointed out that the espionage of the CNI affects the "democratic validation" of the 2019 elections, in which ERc was imposed by a narrow margin of votes over Colua, who nevertheless retained the mayor's office with the support of the PSC and the vote of three councilors from the group of former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
Colau also asks for "a sincere rectification" by Maragall or for his party to disavow his statements because he calls for "tranquility" in the year that is now missing for the next elections.
The mayor adds that she and her party have always condemned political espionage and have demanded accountability. “Spying on political opponents is incompatible with democracy. We have said it and repeated it, I don't know how to say it more clearly".
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