Euphoria was the dominant note at the Junts headquarters, although it was a night of contrasts, yesterday. The jewel in the crown was Barcelona and there the result of the post-convergent formation was indisputable in the municipal elections. Not because of the size of the victory –11 councilors compared to 10 for the PSC and 9 for the commons–, but because of the comeback of the formation with the coup de effect that the return of Xavier Trias has brought. In the last local elections, the JxCat brand had obtained only 5 councilors and now the arithmetic, except for the "strange pacts" of which the convergent former mayor has been warning during the electoral campaign, seems to indicate that the formation will be able to govern in the Catalan capital. "I will be mayor of Barcelona," Trias promised.
However, in a Junts fortress such as Girona, the emotions were different when they went from being the first force to occupying third position, behind the PSC and the local CUP brand, Guanyem. But at the Hotel Catalonia Ramblas there was no allusion to the Girona crash.
On the other hand, it was celebrated that the post-convergents recovered two of the three seats that Esquerra took from them four years ago based on tripartite pacts with the socialists and the anti-capitalists. In Sant Cugat del Vallès and in Figueres those of Jordi Turull will govern again. In Tàrrega, the third municipality in which this formula was given, Junts was ahead and it remains to be seen how the agreements go.
“We have many reasons for joy, we have won honestly in the capital of Catalonia. We are the force that has won in more municipalities in Catalonia with the data we now have and we are the first pro-independence force in number of votes with the data we now have", stressed the party's general secretary, Jordi Turull. In votes the PSC was the first and Junts, the second and in the competition to accumulate councilors ERC was ahead of JxCat.
Thus, if the starting point and the trajectory of this last year are taken into account, the result of the municipal elections has been more than good for the post-convergents. “Who would have imagined that we would be here six months ago? were Trias's first words yesterday.
The party had a weak point in the abstentionist temptation of the disenchanted pro-independence electorate and the general secretary, Turull, yesterday asked for "a reflection" on the matter, just as the president of the party, Laura Borràs, did later.
In any case, the victory of Trias fertilizes and fertilizes the field of work of the most pragmatic sector of the party, which after the departure of Junts from the Government of the Generalitat last October -just over six months ago- had deposited many of its his hopes in the Trias effect and the internal repercussions that this could have in the organization.
In fact, the former mayor, after making a round of thanks to Junts –what he referred to as “my party”–, to PDECat, to Demòcrates de Catalunya and to Moviment d'Esquerres, launched a clear message and marked the way: “ Only by adding will we be strong to change things and make this country move forward”.
With these results, it is not unreasonable that this formula that has brought together the entire post-convergent space is given again in other contests. There are those who speculated these days with the option of repeating if Trias won... In the 2021 Parliamentary elections, the disunity of Junts and PDECat cost JxCat the first position almost certainly, and in this case the division has made those of Turull do not win in places like Manresa or that they have lost the absolute majority in cities like Vic.
For 15 days, the formation has carried out a decentralized campaign, in which each candidate has been free to activate the keys they considered appropriate. The demand for independence has been rather tenuous in the Catalan capital if not non-existent, while far from Barcelona, in places like Vic, Manresa or Girona –and in Arenys de Munt in a symbolic way– it has been a main element.
In cities like Vic, Tortosa, Igualada, Olot, Banyoles or Martorell, converging strongholds, JxCat was the first formation. But the great pending issue for this appointment was to penetrate the Barcelona metropolitan area, in the first crown, where they only obtained one councilor in 2019, David Torrents in Badalona, who has been left out. In that section, the assessment is not good. Only one mayor, in El Prat de Llobregat.
The other goal that the formation had set for itself was to consolidate the brand throughout the Catalan territory, in traditionally convergent squares, and to have the local power that Jordi Pujol's party once held. A refuge value for when things are not going so well. In this section, the result is more than satisfactory
