Nearly forty students from different educational centers in Barcelona interviewed the mayoress of their city, Ada Colau, on April 13, to ask her about some of the issues that interest and concern students.
The students, coming from around twenty schools and institutes in different neighborhoods of Barcelona, acted as representatives of the media that they run in their educational center within the framework of the Revista Escolar Digital (RED) project, a network of school magazines promoted by the Junior Report newspaper that brings current events to the classroom with the aim of promoting critical thinking.
The editors questioned the mayoress of Barcelona and brought up issues such as mental health, the climate emergency, tourism or housing prices, among others, from the Barcelona City Council press room. The mayoress underlined the importance and complexity of some of the questions posed in what for many was the first experience interviewing a political figure and highlighted the ability of the students to do so with a critical and analytical look at everything that happens in their city and in your neighborhood.
One of the concerns of young people is mental health, an issue that has taken center stage especially since the confinement caused by the covid pandemic. "Now that mental health is no longer taboo, it needs a collective response," said Colau, who explained how some of the municipal initiatives that had been launched by Barcelona City Council were working, such as the Konsulta'm project . “It is not focused on working on problems in depth, but rather on detecting them and raising the alarm. It is an initiative that has come to stay ”, he settled.
In this sense, Colau emphasized prevention as the best way to intervene in the field of health at the municipal level. "One of the most powerful tools we have is prevention and that is why our desire is to provide schools with more resources," said the mayoress.
One of the topics that also focused the interview was the climate emergency and the challenge of Barcelona to reduce pollution. "Reducing pollution is a matter of public health," said Colau while pointing out the private vehicle as one of the main sources of emissions. "It is not a question of prohibiting the use of the car, but of limiting its use," he added.
Colau claimed actions that had been carried out such as the expansion and connection of bike lanes, the naturalization of educational centers or the drop in the price of public transport and responded to criticism of superblocks, one of the main standards of his government . “By improving the mobility of the neighbors there is less noise. There is much more life! The idea is to win a quality space in which to share life with the neighbors”, assured the mayoress.
The editors also expressed their concern for the Barcelona of the future in the face of problems such as mass tourism or housing prices. The mayoress was against the expansion of the Barcelona airport, now paralyzed, and she claimed the need to limit the arrival of cruise ships to the city's port. "We don't want fast-food tourism, but people who live and know the city," said Colau.
According to the mayoress, Barcelona must work to diversify its offer and promote the fact that it is a city that brings together "great cultural and scientific capital", with international meetings such as the Mobile World Congress and the ISE Fair. "I want a city that believes in its capabilities and that encourages investment in education, health, and improving the quality of life of its neighbors," she stated.
Finally, Colau was very happy to be able to participate, for the third consecutive year, in this press conference led by young writers. "You are the ones who must lead the present and the future of the city," she concluded.
