The counting of votes abroad has given another slight push to the right-wing process of Spanish politics, and leaves the PP-Vox bloc four votes short of an absolute majority. Although insufficient for the expectations of Alberto Núñez Feijóo and the Madrid right-wing media, the 23-J culminates a swing of the country towards conservative positions, very visible on the municipal and regional map.
The popular pacts with the extreme right and the radicalization of sectors of the PP itself have encouraged the drums of an incipient culture war. In some municipalities and communities there have already been cases of ideological censorship. In Madrid, where the PP has so far shown an open attitude in the cultural field – spaces such as the municipal CentroCentro or Matadero continue to be vanguard lines – worrying signs are being detected, with episodes of possible censorship in Canal theaters and in Valdemorillo, a municipality where the portfolio of Culture has been taken over by an ultra-rightist.
It remains to be seen how this conservative tsunami affects Valencia, which has recently positioned itself as a first-class cultural center. In some Valencian municipalities, decisions have been taken that cause alarm, with the language and culture shared with Catalonia as propitiatory victims.
The fact that the Community Culture portfolio has gone to a Vox politician who was once a bullfighter may seem anecdotal, but it must also be interpreted as another symptom of the cultural rearmament of Spanish nationalism around the bullfight, a industry that needs subsidies to survive (many young people from all over Spain are horrified by a spectacle that involves the torture and public execution of a defenseless being).
The contrast between the vote of Spain as a whole and that recorded in the Basque Country and Catalonia is very relevant. Just for reference, in the municipality of Barcelona, ??the PSC, Sumar and ERC have obtained more than 60% of the votes, while, in Madrid, PSOE and Yolanda Díaz’s platform have remained at 44%.
Barcelona, ??with the capital and its metropolitan area mostly controlled by left-wing parties, thus becomes a political benchmark of resistance for progressive people throughout the country. But it remains to be seen whether, in this context, the city will also succeed in establishing itself as a cultural reference. Recovering the influence lost during the years of the independence process will require a determined and continued effort.
Jaume Collboni’s government team has among its objectives to resume this leadership in culture that Barcelona had exercised before the conflict.
It is true that the detente promoted by the policies of Pedro Sánchez and the dynamism of the city have flattened the ground in recent years. In 2023 the tens of thousands of people who have had to travel to Barcelona from the rest of Spain to see their favorite musicians live have been able to verify that the city is far from the image of a sun-drenched city that is still spread in environments reactionaries from Madrid.
Some policies of the government of Ada Colau also add to this image improvement. The city, for example, has established itself as an example of urban planning aimed at mitigating the climate catastrophe. And interesting steps have also been taken to reconnect Barcelona with the more open sectors of the Spanish capital, such as the joint celebration of the City and Science biennial.
But now is when we are in a position to give a lasting boost. And Barcelona has an underused instrument that allows it to exercise this leadership: the cultural and scientific co-capitalization agreement. This is a framework for Barcelona-Spain relations recovered two years ago by Sánchez and Colau after it was not discussed during the era of Mariano Rajoy and Xavier Trias (with a loss of around 200 million euros for the Catalan capital, since the annual state contribution of 20 million ceased for a decade).
It is true that it remains to be seen whether a program that has always been viewed with suspicion by the bodies of the central administration and the pro-independence movement will be maintained. For the co-capital to last, Pedro Sánchez would have to renew as president, since his continuity would not be at all clear with a PP government. What’s more, with the current coalition executive in office, it remains to be seen whether the contribution corresponding to 2024 can be approved.
But Barcelona City Council is already working to reorient this concept of co-capitalization. The previous government team used the funds – with the exception of the commitment to thought and science – more to rebalance budgets than to lead specific areas. The sector was weakened by the pandemic and needed all possible help to return to activity. But now, in this new stage, the head of Culture, the socialist commissioner Xavier Marcè, is more in favor of concentrating efforts in the areas in which Barcelona stands out from the rest. As a strategy to consolidate leadership.
If his intentions can materialize, these areas would be the publishing world, that of the new visual and technological arts – a commitment shared with Natàlia Garriga’s ministry – and that of specialized training in creative industries. This week, Collboni and Marcè have already held a meeting with those responsible for 18 facilities in the city to advance the lines of the mandate.
The priorities, in any case, should not be to attract more tourists or sell the brand, but to reposition Barcelona in a system of cities that cannot be ignored. The capitals to which the Barcelona metropolis aspires (Mediterranean, cultural, technological, scientific, urban planning…) will be more affordable if relations with the most advanced sectors of the rest of Catalan and Spanish cities are intensified. Including those governed by the PP with an open attitude.