Ernest Maragall announced this morning during the plenary session that he is leaving Barcelona City Council. "It is a personal decision, made conscientiously," he said. The president of the ERC municipal group has stated that he will participate in the December plenary session but that he will be the last as a councilor of the council.
"I inform you, Mr. Mayor and councilors, that the next plenary session will be the last in which I will participate," he said by surprise, adding that it is a decision that he has made "conscientiously and voluntarily." Maragall stated that "the political project comes before everything" and said that "I will continue working tirelessly for Barcelona from a position away from the political front line, as the majority of citizens do."
Maragall's announcement comes a few days after the statements of the party's number two, Elisenda Alamany, ensuring that whoever has been the Republican candidate in the last two elections would not finish this term. Until today, Maragall had not commented on the possibility of leaving the City Council.
Ernest Margall's departure will be formalized in the plenary session scheduled for December 22. The next candidate on the ERC list is Rosa Suriñach, Maragall's current chief of staff. Suriñach already accompanied him on the 2019 list and was a councilor during the last months of the previous term.
