Sant Feliu Sasserra has only been in Lluçanès for 8 weeks. As of this Thursday, June 29, he will once again be part of the Bages. It was the main promise of the winning party in the municipal elections of May 28, which was created for that reason. The mayor, Joan Ramon Domènech, assures that he is not against Lluçanès, but he is against the way in which it has been done.
When the consultation was made, in 2015, in Sant Feliu Sasserra the 'no' won with an adjusted result. For this reason, it was the only town that had a margin until 2026 to decide what it wanted to do. The opposition describes the departure as "irresponsible" and, among the residents, there is a division of opinion.
This Thursday night, the Sant Feliu Sasserra City Council will hold an extraordinary plenary session with a single item on the agenda: leaving Lluçanès. If there are no last-minute unforeseen circumstances, the 4 councilors of ARA Sant Feliu will vote in favor and the 3 of ERC, in the opposition, against.
In this way, Sant Feliu Sasserra will return to where it was two months ago: at Bages. The mayor, Joan Ramon Domènech, considers that it is the correct way to do it. He considers that it is better to start from 0 and that, with a view to 2026, “let people decide what they want to be”, he emphasizes.
For Domènech, the creation of Lluçanès has been done “in haste and for political convenience”. “I do not agree that there are a number of gentlemen who want to take and sit in a chair and charge more. It doesn't come out of my nose. So clear. The money is necessary in all the Town Halls, so that now there are some gentlemen who only want to sit down, ”he underlines.
In this sense, the bet of the new City Council is now to leave Lluçanès and, in view of how everything works through the Mancomunitat that has to be created, for the people to decide again if they want to re-enter.
The head of the opposition, Marisa Terra (ERC), describes leaving the region as "irresponsible" and "historical error." She acknowledges that, in 2015, when the consultation was made to decide whether or not to join Lluçanès, there was little information, but she considers that now joining was "an opportunity". Later, in 2026, it would be decided whether to continue as part of the region or not. "If we had seen that the region was a disaster, we would have already left directly," she stresses.
In this sense, he points out that "it was easy to leave, not to enter", and he regrets that, if in 2026 the town decides to return to Lluçanès, it will not be so easy. On the other hand, Terra underlines “the contradictions” that, according to her, there are in the exit process. “If they opt to leave the region, why does the new government decide to remain in the Lluçancès Town Hall and use some of the services they offer? she wonders.
With just over 600 inhabitants, the controversy over the region has generated a division of opinion among the residents of Sant Feliu Sasserra. Some bet on staying at Lluçanès, see how it evolves and then assess whether it is necessary to leave. Meanwhile, others are very clear that they want to leave and return to Bages. "I don't see it as normal if we had already said that they shouldn't just put us in," stressed one of them, Ramon Oriols. "The most democratic thing is to respect the people and here it has not been respected," explains another, Salvador Rodelles, who according to what he affirms that he had even met with the Ombudsman to explain his concern.
