Xavier Trias has insisted today that he will stop the connection works for the tram along Diagonal in Plaça Verdaguer and will not complete the project between this point and Plaça Francesc Macià. The former mayor of Barcelona and head of the list of the Trias for Barcelona candidacy has shown himself willing to convene, "if they overwhelm me a lot", a citizen consultation and to campaign against the extension of the tram.
Trias has participated in the series of interviews Objectiu Barcelona organized by Barcelona Global with La Vanguardia at Casa Seat in an act moderated by the deputy director of this newspaper, Enric Sierra, in which his willingness to present himself as the only candidate who can unite the useful vote to remove Ada Colau from the mayor's office and promote a change of course in the city.
The candidate chosen by Junts to regain power in the Catalan capital has stated that "the tram is a mistake" and that he personally does not feel in a position to "explain to the people that we will raise the Diagonal again", whose central section, between Francesc Macià square and Paseo de Gràcia reformed in the period 2011-2015, when he was mayor of the city. Trias has insisted that the tram is a business that favors a specific company and that "it is an outdated thing", despite the fact that members of his party, and among them the former Minister of Territory and member of his list, Damià Calvet, they defended in their day the connection of the Trambaix and the Trambesòs by Diagonal avenue.
Trias has expressed his conviction that the virtual tie that some polls reflect with the socialist Jaume Collboni and the common Ada Colau is not such and that his chances of winning the elections, which does not necessarily mean winning the mayoralty, are maximum.
The Trias for Barcelona candidate has been very critical of the policies of Ada Colau, whom he has accused, for example, of being "an activist against tourism" and has defended that Barcelona travel the world to explain the tourism we want "before that others do it for us.
In terms of housing, he has advocated for a great city pact between political formations and listening to civil society and the private sector to have a sufficient stock of affordable public rental housing and has been in favor of reviewing the regulations that oblige private developers to reserve 30% of the new works or large residential rehabilitations for social housing since they consider that this measure, although well-intentioned, has not worked.
Asked about the expansion of the airport, he stated that "Barcelona needs intercontinental flights" but has questioned whether the solution is to extend the third runway by 500 meters and has totally rejected the option of building a new runway over the sea. On the other hand, he has made reference to the alternative of resorting to the airports of Reus and Girona, duly connected to Barcelona by high-speed train.
In relation to the superblocks promoted by Ada Colau, Xavier Trias has ruled out reversing works such as the green axis of Consell de Cent street, but has presented his commitment to calm traffic in the city: act "with common sense". In this sense, he has accused the mayoress of "distorting the concept of superblocks." The former mayor has announced that if he is in his hands, he will recover the corners of the Eixample, mutilated by the latest urban reforms, for loading and unloading.
