"Unite" and "divide" are verbs with opposite meanings, but, in the case of the project to link the two trams along the Diagonal, they seem synonymous. And it is that the union of the Trambesòs and the Trambaix through this strategic avenue, divides the people of Barcelona more than any other debate in the city.
At least, this is what emerges from the first conclusions of the Your opinion counts macro-survey, which La Vanguardia has launched to coincide with the next municipal elections to collect the opinions of its readers on the main problems in Barcelona and the present city model and of future.
So far, 53% of the more than 3,600 contributions are inclined to state that the connection of the trams along the Diagonal will help improve mobility in Barcelona, while 47% think that it will be counterproductive.
Among the 15 open debates, this is the one that maintains the most polarized opinions. There is no other aspect of the city that has such a close result between those who are for and those who are against. In a certain way, as happened in the 2011 elections, the Diagonal is once again in the spotlight, since the union project between the two trams along this avenue is the reflection of two antagonistic models that will settle their differences at the polls on next May 28.
On the one hand, the mayor Ada Colau (BComú), who has not only promoted the project in her last mandate, but considers it "an icon of Barcelona in the 21st century". So much so that, with the works underway, it is expected that the tram will be running between Glòries and Verdaguer in March 2024, on its way to Francesc Macià.
But, on the other hand, Xavier Trias (Junts), who aspires to return to the mayor's office, has already announced that, if he governs, the tram will not pass from Verdaguer. "I'm not going to continue it", he assured, since he considers that the pending section can be covered with buses and that there are other more important needs.
It is not the first time that Trias has found himself immersed in an electoral race with the Diagonal as a backdrop. In 2011, when he became mayor, he ousted the socialists from the municipal government after defeating Jordi Hereu, who months before had suffered a severe setback with the failed consultation for the reform of the Diagonal.
For his part, Colau defeated Trias in 2015 defending the connection of the trams in his program. Already in his first 100 days of government of his first term, he commissioned studies to connect Trambesòs and Trambaix. In recent years, the mayoress has had the support of the Socialists as partners, while the works to join the trams have been financed by the Generalitat, governed by ERC, through the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM). Former Minister Damià Calvet, now on the Trias electoral list, was in charge of signing the works that are now being carried out.
But, although the union of the trams divides, there is another issue of the city model that, on the contrary, is the one that concentrates the most consensus. In fact, it's almost a unanimous cry. There is an absolute rejection of the Barcelonans to mass and low cost tourism. 96% of the readers who have contributed their opinion to the La Vanguardia survey consider that Barcelona should only bet on a tourism model based on attracting fewer and better quality tourists. In other words, less is more, at least in this case.
The latest episode of overcrowding that is taking place in the Carmel bunkers and that has put the residents on a war footing seems to agree with the readers of La Vanguardia.
The most significant thing is that Barcelona wanted to bet on decentralizing tourism so that it would not concentrate in Ciutat Vella and, now, the problems that are occurring in this area of Horta-Guinardó, show that low cost and mass tourism seem which is much more entrenched than was assumed. "We are not against tourism, but against mass tourism," repeat the affected residents of Carmel, statements that are in line with the results of the La Vanguardia survey, which will be open until election day.
