all of Madrid spreads out in a perfect radial parade towards the rest of the Spanish geography during this May bridge. The capital commemorates the uprising against the French occupation by sunbathing on the beaches of the Peninsula. It is the last rest before the battle of 28-M, in turn a prelude to the end-of-year generals (some have already marked December 3 on the calendar). Much of what is considered peripheral from the center is fundamental to the aspirations of the left. And, above all, the triangle that goes from the Valencian Community to the Balearic Islands, passing through Barcelona. In this city, which these days was recovering its self-esteem with the visit of illustrious people (Susan Sarandon, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Spielberg and Barack Obama), cards are being shuffled that will shape Spanish politics. Even if its candidates refer more to the past than to the future, Barcelona is a lever for change.
Ada Colau retaining the mayorship would give strength to Yolanda Díaz against Podemos. The two sides have stopped hostilities until after the municipal elections. They will negotiate the lists of the generals once they measure their forces on the 28th M. Podemos could participate in a new coalition government, but given the clashes between the purples and their partners in Sumar and the PSOE, it could also split later and form own parliamentary group. Just in case, you need to guarantee starting positions on the lists and have as many deputies as possible in Congress. Díaz plays authority in Barcelona through Colau, and in the Community of Madrid, through Mónica García.
The result in the Catalan capital could also definitively break the blocks of Parliament around independence. It took more than a year after the events of 2017 to crack the wall between the ERC and the PSC, thanks to the agreement on the latest budgets, much criticized by Junts per Catalunya, which considers it proof of "betrayal" of Republicans to the cause. But Barcelona could be a turning point if a pact materializes between the socialist Jaume Collboni and the list headed by Xavier Trias, in whatever order. The ex-mayor is ready to reach an agreement with the PSC, while Salvador Illaha has been building bridges with Junts, with his eyes fixed not only on Barcelona, but also on the Provincial Council. The competition is so contested in the Catalan capital that a tie cannot be ruled out, which would lead to the distribution of the mandate in two years for the mayors.
An agreement between Trias and the Socialists would dismantle the discourse of confrontation proposed by Carles Puigdemont and Laura Borràs (albeit separately) and would provide strength to those who defend Junts that it is necessary to recover the skills of the old Convergence without renouncing independence , such as negotiating areas of institutional power and political concessions for Catalonia. If Trias were to win the mayor's office, this sector could force the internal pulse in Junts and try to influence the candidacy for the generals, so that the formation opens up to pacts with Pedro Sánchez, a fact to which Puigdemont is now opposes frontally. Even if Sánchez does not need the votes of Junts, it suits him to have as many allies as possible, although a strong rivalry between Junts and ERC could be unleashed when it comes to demanding concessions from the central government in exchange for their parliamentary support , as happened in Catalonia between Esquerra and CiU during the negotiation of the Statute with Zapatero.
If one phrase symbolizes the Madrid collective imagination, it is the one that says "from Madrid, to the sky". They attribute it to the playwright Luis Quiñones de Buenavente; others to the transformation of the Castilian village into the capital driven in large part by Charles III. Or it can simply be a copy of the “de Paris, aux paradis” reble. To reach the sky of Moncloa, however, a good walk around the periphery is required, with a particularly exciting stop in Barcelona.
