It is known that for years and years commoners and socialists, rather than understanding each other, have put up with each other. It is also known that, in this first six months of his mandate, Mayor Jaume Collboni has maintained a much smoother relationship with Xavier Trias than with his ex-wife Ada Colau. And it is no secret that both BComú and Junts yearn to enter the government of Barcelona, regain control of the square and leave the ungrateful seats of the opposition. But yesterday, in the last municipal meeting of the year, perhaps the most intense episode of the divorce between socialists and commoners took place.
The ex-mayor Colau detonated a powerful load of dynamite in a relationship that has been teetering on a tightrope since the day Collboni took office. Colau obtained circumstantial – and cruelly paradoxical – support from the councilors of Trias for Barcelona to approve a proposal that confirms "the paralysis" in which the city's government finds itself. The proposal, in fact a full rebuke to the mayor, went ahead with the votes of BComú and Junts and the abstention of ERC, PP and Vox.
Ada Colau was very critical of the PSC government, so much so that the Socialists, who until now had made it look like it was raining in the face of the repeated offensives of their former partners, decided that the time had come to strike back. Jaume Collboni did not intervene, perhaps not to stoke the fire even more. He delegated the answer to his first deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, who made the communes responsible for "boycotting the possibility of Barcelona having a left-wing government".
Already in the October plenum, Colau tried to reprove Collboni, but ended up giving up in view of the impossibility of gathering support. He got them yesterday. Together, which like BComú, aspires to be in the government, voted for the proposal of the commons. They share the diagnosis of paralysis of a government that has not managed to approve the City Council's budget for 2024 or yet a government agreement. It is the only thing they share, the conclusion, even if to get there they follow paths that will never meet.
Colau criticized Collboni for limiting himself to inaugurating projects promoted during his time as mayor and, instead, maintaining a passive attitude regarding the rise in water prices, rents or public transport. Laia Bonet did not bite her tongue and criticized the former mayor for using "gratuitous aggression" in an "absurd campaign of attacks" on the socialist government.
The Trias for Barcelona group, through the mediation of Neus Munté, justified its favorable vote. Those from Junts agree that Collboni pays for the paralysis", but they warn Colau that "do not make a mistake", that his exceptional support is not an endorsement of the commons but quite the opposite, a criticism of Collboni's continuity with respect to policies of his predecessor.
Elisenda Alamany, who made her debut as leader of the ERC group, stated that Collboni's is a "weak government" obstinate in dismantling the work of the commons without responding to the challenges of Barcelona residents. But he warned that BComú's proposal "is aimed at insisting on the PSC to let them enter the government". "This is a story between the two of you", he said.
The popular Daniel Sirera compared the insistence of the common people to ask the socialists to let them enter the government to that of those children who, sitting in the back seat of the car, do not stop asking their parents throughout the journey if there is much left to arrive. Sirera advised Colau that "if he wants to enter the government, present a motion of no confidence". Gonzalo del Oro (Vox) agreed with him, and appreciated Colau's proposal as "a desperate attempt to enter the government". Having seen and heard this, there are serious doubts that the chosen path is the straightest.
