Xavier Trias announced last night, at a dinner with militants from the party's federation in Barcelona, his decision to present himself as a Junts candidate for mayor of the Catalan capital in the elections on May 28, 2023. Hours before that announcement, the who was mayor of the city between 2011 and 2015 explained to La Vanguardia the reasons for his decision.
He has decided to take the plunge and introduce himself. For what purpose?
Being mayor again and recovering the prestige that the city had and that it has lost in the last 8 years. Barcelona has lost leadership and the pride and affection of its people. The people of Barcelona are angry with the way their city is governed, there is a disaffection with respect to the way the city is governed. We are at a critical moment: either things change or we will have a stage of decline in the city.
Will Xavier Trias be the candidate against Colau?
No, I don't want to be the candidate against anyone. But my claim is that she stops governing herself as Mrs. Colau does.
And remove her from the mayor's office.
What is evident is that Colau can no longer govern the city. He has not corrected anything in his style and continues to do what he sees fit, without dialogue, in a sectarian way. The time has come for the relief and for things to work differently in this city.
Do you think that this perception that the city is not well governed is in the majority?
It is quite widespread, even in the City Council surveys. She believes that the solution to the lack of cleanliness in the city is to change the trucks. If it has to be done, it is done, but the problem is one of concept. Do we agree that the city is dirty? Not her, she's happy, she says she's clean, even though she's not. Anyone who comes to Barcelona will see that the city has gotten worse, and not just because it is dirtier. In this city, design and aesthetics were taken care of and now tactical urbanism has created a sensation of disorder. In a bar, if the floor is clean, nobody thinks of throwing paper on the floor. Just the opposite of what happens in our city.
If you win the mayoralty or manage to influence the city government, what will be the first of Colau's policies that you will eliminate?
Above all we have to take care of people who have a hard time and that is only possible by creating economic activity. Mrs. Colau's big mistake is to believe that the city has to fight against those she calls powerful. These powerful are investors that we can demand to do certain things, to pay taxes, but with whom we must collaborate because the fight against poverty means creating well-paid jobs.
And housing...
We need housing, but we also need people to earn enough to be able to rent a home.
Colau is presented precisely as the standard bearer of affordable housing.
Yes, but he hasn't done anything. I left the coffers of the City Council with 200 million to invest in housing from the concessions of the parking lots. But hardly anything has been done because private operators cannot make a strong commitment to Barcelona. You have to sit with them and see what to do.
Would you eliminate the obligation to allocate 30% of the new work or major rehabilitation to affordable housing?
Of course. It is a failure, it has not worked.
Insecurity continues to be the number one problem in the city according to its neighbors. Why?
The mayoress must truly believe that one of her functions is to guarantee security, and that means having municipal guards with clear orders, who feel supported by their rulers. And there needs to be good collaboration with the Mossos. We do not have enough mossos d'esquadra and we have to demand more from the Generalitat, but as long as we do not have them, we need close collaboration between both bodies.
Another area of political and citizen discussion is that of mobility and within it the superblocks.
Superblocks are not an invention of Mrs. Colau. They come from afar. I used to talk about superblocks when I was mayor, but what is ridiculous is to do them without talking to the neighbors. The Colau government has decided to make some green axes that will lead to discrimination of the streets of the Eixample. In some, like Consell de Cent, prices will skyrocket, while others, like Valencia, will be punished.
Can this situation be reversed?
It will be difficult. What can be done is not to generate more strange situations. For example, it must be taken into account that the suppression of chamfers affects loading and unloading.
Shopkeepers complain that it is increasingly difficult to reach the city center.
It's all a matter of agreements, you have to sit down and agree and when you don't, things go wrong. You cannot do according to what things that lead to degradation. For example, the solution for La Rambla is not to have it under construction for seven years. That is a bestiality, there is no point in taking so many years.
Do you present yourself as the mayor of the pact as opposed to the mayor of the imposition?
Yes. From dialogue and pact. The next one will be a covenant mandate.
And what is your preference? PSC, CKD?
I have agreed with everyone. It will have to be done on our own project, finding other groups that, with all the necessary nuances, accept it.
With everyone except Colau?
The most important pact I have made in my life was that of the Servei Català de la Salut and I did it with Initiative. I do not close to any pact. With Mrs. Colau we will not be government partners, that's for sure, but we can agree on things. For example, in terms of housing, if you want things to really work, with serious policies, not with 30%.
What has he asked of his party?
I have set some conditions that are not such because we all agree: freedom of movement and that if I win I can agree with whoever I think is necessary. I am not an authoritarian person but I have to be able to make my decisions.
Even if they contradict your party's strategy?
Barcelona must have its own strategy. I am a person who defends non-dependence, of the State and also of the Generalitat. Barcelona must not be tied hand and foot to the Generalitat. We make politics of the capital of Catalonia but one hundred percent Barcelona, taking into account that we are not alone, that we are surrounded by a group of cities with which we have to understand each other.
What weight will the estelada have in your project? Will he leave her in the background?
The estelada has nothing to do with Barcelona. People know what I vote for and I'm proud of what I've done. But municipal elections should not be in the discussion of independence. Catalonia has a very serious problem of humiliating dependency and our job is to make that dependency disappear. And we have to demand that Catalonia have the financing it needs, but also Barcelona City Council. We need what belongs to us.
What will you do if you don't win? Go home?
Yes. I run to win and if I lose I won't stay as councilor for four years, it doesn't make sense.
You can lose and yet rule. Do you consider that possibility?
I will have on my list people who will govern. What doesn't make sense is that Trias plays deputy mayor of I don't know what. If we don't win, I have to ensure that our candidacy has the weight it should have. And, once this is done, a hug to everyone and that's it. I have taken this step because I have convinced myself and they have convinced me that it was important to take it. I was very calm in retirement, but it is true that for months people have stopped me on the street and asked me to introduce myself. Well that's it, I introduce myself. But this should never happen again, we have to have the relays prepared because there are very good people.
Have you already defined your team?
There are people who are interested and now what remains is to finish configuring the equipment. It is very important that everyone understands that it will not be a sum of individuals and that the one in front is Trias, who has a very clear idea of the city that he wants.
Joaquim Forn may not be on the lists, but what role do you reserve for him?
Quim Forn is a friend of mine and thanks to him I have been mayor. He will advise me, he will tell me how he sees things. We understand each other very well and he has the necessary rauxa and seny and he doses them very appropriately.
Do you regret having rushed to accept defeat in the 2015 elections?
It is that I did not rush. I talked to everyone and I knew I didn't have the support. In life you have to know how to win and how to lose and when you lose you have to avoid making a fool of yourself. In the end, the numbers are what they are.
Now the situation can be different?
I think so. The combinations are not easy, but nowadays winning does not guarantee you rule. The most curious case occurred in the City Council, in which a person won and, thanks to an unpresentable move, that of Mr. Valls, the loser of the elections ended up being mayor.
There are those who read his candidacy as a subtraction for the PSC and ERC that may favor Colau.
I do not think so at all. That is an interested theory. I am not running to get seven councilors, but to win. Here Colau has commanded, but he has been receiving the support of the PSC and explicit and implicit support from the ERC. Esquerra has to decide what he will do if I win. I am very clear about what I will do if they win. I will ask my party to support the winner, but it is clear that I am not playing to lose but to win.
And if Colau wins?
Colau will not win, that is the only sure thing. She could only be mayor from very strange combinations that will not be produced again.
As a result of the current situation in Spain and Catalonia, can the tripartite be repeated in Barcelona?
I do not think so. Otherwise it would be very fat. Politics has taught me that anything can happen, but people have to be smart and know what they are voting for.
What things from your time as mayor that were left pending would you like to take up again if you get the opportunity again?
I have always said that the most important thing is the fight against poverty and I feel bad for not having been able to do more. Another thorn in my mind is the transformation of the Morrot and another thing that obsesses me is finishing the Diagonal and the transformation of the Gran Via.
One of the things that cannot be reversed and that you directly opposed is the connection to the tram on the Diagonal.
Even Verdaguer no longer has a solution.
Would the project between Verdaguer and Francesc Macià stop?
I want you to explain to me how you will do this last section because now you are doing the easy section. There are a number of very important streets, such as Paseo Sant Joan, Paseo de Gràcia, Rambla Catalunya that, depending on what you do, can be damaged. The express bus line that goes from Francesc Macià to Glòries shows that there is no point in going up the Diagonal. At the same time that they are building the tram, they are narrowing the streets of the Eixample more and more. In the end they will end up generating a monumental traffic jam. And in a few years we will see if the pollution levels have dropped or are maintained.
One of the arguments of those who question his candidacy is that he is an older person.
It is true. I'm older. It does not make infinite logic to look for a 76-year-old candidate, although it is true that there are older candidates. I can't hide that I'm older.
And does this make you a worse candidate?
No. That means that I am a candidate who will not be around for many years. Of course, if I win, I will be there for four years, I will not be there for a single year and then I will leave. It is one of the first things to make clear to the party. In any case, in 2026 I will not introduce myself. I will be 80 years old and I will not introduce myself nor will my family let me introduce myself. I'm older, but I feel lively and feel perfectly well. We have some repair shops in the country that have put me in shape.
