The Chamber will vote a declaration of support for the Council of the Republic

The controversy surrounding the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce rises in tone.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
26 June 2022 Sunday 20:00
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The Chamber will vote a declaration of support for the Council of the Republic

The controversy surrounding the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce rises in tone. The next plenary session, scheduled for Wednesday, the 29th, will vote on a manifesto of support for the Consell de República and its leader Carles Puigdemont. Except for surprises, it will be easily approved, given the vast majority enjoyed by the government team, headed by Mònica Roca and made up of members of the Eines de País independence candidacy.

According to the text sent to the members of the plenary session, the declaration is justified by the need to have a "courageous economic policy" that prioritizes the productive fabric and puts an end to the "chronic damage" of investments in infrastructure.

"Ultimately, we claim that the best economic policy is to have its own State, which allows Catalonia and its business network to be among the most developed economies in Europe, and why not, in the world," the text states.

"We confirm that the executive committee of the institution, the majority of the members of this plenary session and also the business community as a whole agree on this vision," the text adds. And as an argument, he provides that "that was the will expressed at the polls by the voters of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce in May 2019 in the most popular elections in the institution's history."

After pointing out that various institutions, administrations and social agents are working on this objective of "having their own State", the manifesto expresses "the recognition deserved by the Consell de la República –with the molt honorable president Puigdemont at the helm– for its precious work to achieve this goal, as necessary as it is urgent for the productive fabric of the country”. It also recognizes the "Assembly of Representatives, recently constituted in Catalunya Nord, as a legitimate representative body."

The text has been received with perplexity and considerable irritation among the members of the plenary outside the team promoted by the Catalan National Assembly (ANC). “A bolder step in the ongoing politicization of the institution,” says one of them.

In media close to Eines de País, it is highlighted, on the contrary, that the defense of the State itself was part of its electoral program and, therefore, the current manifesto should not surprise anyone.

It is not the only symbology-laden issue that will lead to controversy in plenary session. Also the change of the shield of the institution. The new proposal is based on an older version of the Consolat del Mar shield, but the disappearance of the crown has raised criticism. According to sources from the Chamber, the new one is inspired by a coat of arms sculpted on the arches of the Saló de Contractacions de la Llotja, which is estimated to date back to the 14th century. The current coat of arms is that of the Barcelona Board of Trade, drawn by Francesc Tremulles i Roig in 1758.

And already, among the issues of greater importance, the change of statutes will also be debated to reduce to a minimum – from the maximum of 14 that are currently foreseen to a maximum of two – the so-called silver chairs, the seats in the plenary to those that are accessed without going through the polls, only paying a certain amount (now they are a minimum of 75,000 euros per year). The proposal that Mònica Roca has been explaining to the large corporations affected is that this status will be changed to the figure of institutional partners who would continue to pay, and in exchange could participate in commissions or working groups. But those institutional partners would not have a vote, because they would not be part of the plenary. Mònica Roca's intention is that the elections, initially scheduled for May 2023, be held with the new system.