The government of Mayor Jaume Collboni plans to negotiate with the different municipal opposition groups to modify the obligation to dedicate 30% of each new development to social housing shortly after the elections to the Parliament of Catalonia are held on May 12. The socialists trust that then the political panorama will be completely clear and that relations between councilors will recover their daily normality.
Furthermore, this modification is so political in nature that the municipal government is not clear if it is authorized to present it during these hectic weeks without violating the legal restrictions of electoral periods. At least that is how it is deduced after listening to the presentation yesterday Monday of the Municipal Action Plan (PAM) for the remainder of the mandate, the supposed roadmap of Barcelona City Council for the next three or so years.
And the majority of the opposition is not willing to miss the opportunity to once again underline the loneliness of the socialists and to find some kind of compensation. Everything indicates that the opposition will reject the socialists' roadmap in the initial vote that will take place tomorrow, Wednesday in the municipal Presidency commission. Junts and PP already announced yesterday afternoon that they will vote no, and it is very difficult for the common people to support a document that questions the 30% rule. Republicans have not yet decided on their vote, but appear to be the only ones willing to consider a yes.
“We will vote against – said Jordi Martí, from Junts – because this PAM has not in any case been consensual. We have not held a single meeting. Furthermore, we believe that it promotes a model that perpetuates the city of recent years.” “They have presented it late and poorly,” they say from the commons group, “without a sufficient period of participation and without allocating resources to key policies, such as developing more green axes, connecting the tram, the municipal dentist, continuing with the 30% or limit tourist overcrowding in our city. “We will ask for an expansion of the participation process, as city entities have already requested, and we will decide our vote based on their response.”
On this occasion, the breakdown of the initiatives was carried out by Laia Bonet, the Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, and was as ambiguous as it usually is, regardless of the color of the government in power. The presentation of the PAM is nothing more than a willful declaration of intentions that ultimately raises new doubts. Furthermore, the meager base of just ten councilors that supports Mayor Collboni's government further slows down the City Council's action and forces it to convert each step into another bargaining chip.
It is still not clear what will happen with the second phase of the union of the two tram lines through Diagonal Avenue, what will be the future of this project once the ongoing work on the Trambesós is completed, when the new tracks arrive end to Verdaguer? For months now, from time to time, Mayor Collboni himself has let it slip that this flagship project of the two mandates led by former mayor Ada Colau will be carried out, or more, that the pertinent executive project will be ready at the beginning of summer, but that already We will see when the works are put out to tender, that the Eixample district cannot be burdened with so many major works, that these streets need to breathe, that if the new phase of the union of the two lines is carried out during the next term nothing will happen either. ..
These probe balloons that question their legacy tend to make Colau and his people feel bad. They do not like at all that the socialists do not prioritize this project. And Deputy Mayor Bonet yesterday added a bit more suspense to the matter and did not rule out the possibility that these works could start during the current mandate. "When we have the executive project of the new phase we will see when is the best time to start the works and we will establish the calendar." Hence, the terms used by the deputy mayor to refer to what will be one of the most controversial municipal government initiatives suddenly seemed unusually clear and clear. In truth, the Collboni executive is determined to modify as soon as possible the obligation to dedicate 30% of each development to social housing.
We are talking about a modification, not a repeal, of raising other possibilities, such as financially compensating the local administration or raising the corresponding social floors elsewhere. Despite this, the Barcelona real estate sector is eagerly awaiting to know the details of this modification as soon as possible. Many developers consider the 30% rule as a restraint that strangles their activity and which also hardly served to increase the public housing stock.
Meanwhile, for some time now, the community has been maneuvering so that the Collboni executive changes his mind and does not touch what they consider a fundamental tool. The modification of this norm could end up ruining relations between socialists and commoners. Everything indicates that Collboni will have to seek the support of Junts in this matter. Xavier Trias has been stressing for weeks that the mayor does not inspire the slightest confidence in him, and his people have already announced that they will vote against the PAM but...
The PAM is an indicative roadmap that does not entail any legal obligation. But the municipal executive also knows how to keep tricks up his sleeve and if the opposition finally insists on overturning his roadmap, he will respond that with their shenanigans the groups are doing nothing other than stopping the participatory process that must culminate the preparation of this PAM. . The truth is that the significance of this participatory process is not very clear, but as a political reproach to the opposition it will be very good.
