The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, today offered the celebration in the Catalan capital of the summit of foreign ministers of the countries of the Union for the Mediterranean as a forum to reach an agreement that will allow "an end to the suffering of the population." civil” caused by the conflict between Israel and Palestine and to “establish the basis for a new peace agreement between the warring parties.”
The meeting to which the mayor of Barcelona has referred will be held on November 27 and 28 within the program of the Spanish presidency of the European Union.
Before the start of the municipal plenary session, Jaume Collboni made this statement. In it he states that “since last October 7, as a result of the Hamas terrorist attack, there has been an escalation of war in Gaza and Israel that has already caused thousands of fatalities and more than 200 people who are still kidnapped as hostages. “62% of the victims are women and children, according to the UN.”
“In the face of this unbearable tragedy – continues the mayor of Barcelona – let us not resign ourselves. We want and have to act. It is time to break a spiral of war that only generates more destruction and suffering for the weakest. It is time for cities because cities are, by definition, spaces of coexistence and understanding. “Barcelona has demonstrated its unique capacity to find paths to peace when they seemed impossible.”
The first mayor of Barcelona remembers the solidarity and peace mediation work, with the creation of District 11 Sarajevo during the Balkan War; the friendship and cooperation agreement between Barcelona, Tel Aviv and Gaza, which former mayor Ada Colau suspended and Jaume Collboni has recovered; support for the peace agreement between the Colombian Government and the FARC, or participation in the humanitarian corridor with the city of Kyiv.
“Our duty – Collboni continued – is to keep hope alive for all the men and women of Gaza and Israel. Barcelona, as the capital of the Mediterranean and headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean, wants to act with more conviction than ever as a bridge between the countries, cultures and religions of our sea. It is never too late for a new agreement. It is never too late for peace.”
However, the mayor points out that "we are not naive and we know that peace cannot remain a declaration of good intentions." For this reason, and as a first step, Barcelona joins the request for a humanitarian ceasefire “that allows the opening of corridors for essential aid in the face of the emergency experienced by the population of Gaza.”
Barcelona City Council has already sent extraordinary aid of 300,000 euros to meet the basic needs of the population and Palestinian refugees who are in the Gaza Strip. But Collboni believes that the city cannot stop here and that is why it aspires to become one of the scenes of peace. “As mayor, and as I have expressed to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, I offer Barcelona to Israel and Palestine, and to the entire international community, to make it possible for this summit to reach an agreement that will allow, first, to put an end to the suffering of the civilian population and, second, establish the basis for a new peace agreement between the opposing parties.”
“It is time to get involved with all our political, social and human capital to stop the escalation of violence and prevent the conflict from spreading to other areas with unforeseeable consequences. Barcelona, as a city of human rights and peace, assumes the responsibility of being a lighthouse that guides others to seek a better world,” concludes the mayor of Barcelona.
