Comunes and socialists, partners until the last minute in Barcelona despite appearances

The relationship that commoners and socialists have maintained over the last four years in the municipal government of Barcelona has never been particularly affectionate.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
26 May 2023 Friday 22:52
30 Reads
Comunes and socialists, partners until the last minute in Barcelona despite appearances

The relationship that commoners and socialists have maintained over the last four years in the municipal government of Barcelona has never been particularly affectionate. The march of the City Council of the first deputy mayor, Jaume Collboni, last January, exposed the strong charge of mistrust and distrust accumulated throughout the term, a charge that has definitively exploded and with great noise during the electoral campaign that ended yesterday. However, formally, BComú and PSC have respected the contract signed in 2019 until the last minute.

On Thursday, some councilors from both formations –among them was not the mayor Ada Colau–  made a brief stop in their campaign activity to meet at the last session of the government commission and discuss a series of pending issues in a matter of minutes, most pure administrative procedures but a few with a certain political significance. They did so unanimously.

The list of approved measures contains 73 points and occupies 30 pages, not counting the corresponding annexes developed by some of the projects.

The relationship includes matters as varied as the sanction of 3,279.37 euros (plus VAT) to the company that is in charge of maintaining the public urinals in Ciutat Vella or the start of the file for the contracting of production, rental, transport , the maintenance, the disassembly and the control of the light decoration of the next Christmas campaign with a budget of more than 2 million euros.

The distribution of money from the tax on stays in tourist establishments was also agreed, with items destined for the management and improvement of the anti-aircraft batteries of Turó de la Rovira, the interpretation project of the Rec Comtal in El Born or the production of the installation interactive Plaza de Barcelona, ​​a mobile venue 12 meters in diameter and 5 meters high that will travel through the major European capitals to promote the city's brand.

After the approval of some projects, the hand of the socialists can be guessed. The grant of 100,000 euros to the Gremi d'Hotels de Barcelona to bring the spaces and services of their establishments closer to the people of Barcelona and to develop their communication campaign for good practices in water consumption is striking. Or the contribution of 200,000 euros to the promoter Advanced Music to carry out this year's Sonar Dia and Sonar D Festival project.

The government commission has not yet approved the granting of building permits to FC Barcelona to carry out the reconstruction work at the Camp Nou, but it did approve a credit modification for the collection of 1,817,000 euros derived from the agreement signed by the City Council and the Barça club in terms of mobility and urban services for the celebration of Barça matches at the Estadi Olímpic next season.

In a term in which the city's bike lane network has been significantly expanded, the last government session before the elections could not miss the approval of the executive project for a new bike lane. This is the one that will run along the Joan de Borbó promenade in Barceloneta.

In the previous term, the government commission continued to meet every Thursday with the outgoing councilors until the constitution of the new municipal plenary session. This will be the case again this time until June 15. On that day, commoners and socialists will break the society that they have kept in place despite the fights for four years. It remains to be seen if 48 hours later, in the constitution of the new city council and the election of the mayor or mayoress, they will renew the pact.