Xavier Trias won the municipal elections in Barcelona this Sunday and broke the tiebreaker he had in the polls with the PSC candidate, Jaume Collboni, and the mayoress of BComú, Ada Colau. The former mayor upset the political scene a few months ago by announcing that he would contest the battle for mayor and, despite the fact that the electoral campaign has not been particularly favorable for him, he has managed to win a narrow victory.
Will Trias be the next mayor? It will be if PSC, BComú and ERC do not agree on a government that will unseat him. The possibility of a tripartite pact in Barcelona is possible, but difficult, especially due to the bad relations between the Socialists and the Republicans. Although the need for the PSC to recover its most emblematic mayor's office and for the commons to keep it, could push them to seek an agreement to unseat the winner as they did four years ago with Ernest Maragall, and even divide the position for two years each. But in this equation they must have the approval of ERC, which described the 2019 agreement that led Colau to seize the mayor's office from Maragall as a "shame pact". For the Republicans, only a high price would save the inconsistency of participating in an operation to prevent the winner from taking the mayor's rod, especially if it is to prevent a pro-independence candidate from running for mayor. Despite this, Maragall left the door open last night to a negotiation that takes his program into account.
Collboni was one of the architects of the pact that made Colau mayor four years ago and now he will try to repeat the operation to be mayor. The next few days will be relevant, where the offices of the parties that will decide the vote in the investiture of the mayor on June 17 will come into play. In this post-electoral phase, the state leaders who will think in terms of the general elections will have a role.
Whatever happens, the electoral result makes it clear that the main mission of the new mayor will be to re-assemble a divided city. The parties that have achieved municipal representation must recompose the great consensus that helped Barcelona to advance solidly. Trias said it yesterday in his speech after knowing the victory: "Only by adding we will be strong", in a message addressed to the different souls of his own party. And he promised to "collaborate with everyone to make a better Barcelona". That will be the challenge of the next mayor, whoever he is.
