The negotiations (few and not at all fluid) between socialists and commoners to explore the possibility of the group led by former mayor Ada Colau supporting the budget presented by Jaume Collboni’s government, which already has the endorsement of ERC, are not moving forward. The PSC, subscriber to the step-by-step philosophy, wants to decouple for now the government pacts from the approval of the accounts for this year, while BComú insists on putting everything in the same package.
On the eve of Collboni giving this afternoon the annual conference organized by the Col•legi de Periodistes, the commons yesterday sent the socialists a document in which they set out the demands to join the municipal government and support the City Council’s budget. And the truth is that Colau’s demands do not add anything new to what the former mayor has been repeating since last June, with the votes of her group added to those of the PP, she made possible the investiture of the socialist Collboni, thus dismantling the election to the position of the winner of the previous month’s elections, Xavier Trias.
In their proposal, advanced yesterday by TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio, the commons insist on a “progressive, stable and broad” government to which they link a budget agreement. This is a condition that the socialists, at the moment, do not accept. In fact, the PSC wants to hold talks with all municipal groups, with the exception of Vox, without closing any doors, with the sole purpose, for now, that in March the forecast of this year’s accounts can be approved by an absolute majority and without that Collboni is forced to submit to a question of trust.
In the ranks of the PSC, an undisguised annoyance is perceived at the attitude of the common people, who after the departure of Jordi Martí to the Secretary of State for Culture, have placed the responsibility for the negotiation in the councilors Janet Sanz and Gemma Tarafa. The publication of the information detailing the conditions for the double pact (government and budget) is, according to socialist sources, another example of the distrust that BComú generates in them, especially when Collboni’s team reiterates that it is trying to bring negotiations with opposition groups with the utmost discretion.
The document presented by the commons points out three mandate priorities, some more generic than others: housing and the fight against tourist overcrowding; the green transformation and the maintenance of the superblock model (under review by the socialists) and social rights, health, education and culture (an obvious request).
The problem of reaching an agreement becomes more acute in view of some of the most concrete proposals of the commons. For example, the party chaired by Ada Colau is not willing to back down from what was one of the star measures of her two mandates, the obligation to reserve 30% of new real estate developments and large renovations for affordable housing.
A few days ago, Mayor Collboni, although he admitted the good intentions of this measure, described its execution as a failure, since it has barely served to generate just over fifty apartments of this type in five years and, in addition, has slowed down the construction of housing in general in the city. The socialists have announced a thorough review of this rule.
The commons are also demanding in the regulation of tourist apartments (here there may be an understanding with the socialists) and in the reduction of the arrival of cruise passengers (more difficult because an agreement is in force with the Port of Barcelona signed at the time by the Colau itself) and the prohibition of granting licenses for more hotels in the city center (in principle a requirement that the socialists, broadly speaking, share, although they could make some exceptions for buildings with heritage value that are not suitable for conversion into housing) .
BComú also demands “the connection of the tram without delays.” The PSC supported without hesitation the extension of the Trambesòs from Plaça de las Glòries to Plaça Verdaguer, whose works have entered the final phase with the intention of this section entering service this year. But the connection from this point to the Francesc Macià square is another story. Collboni, a follower in these cases of the “wait and see” and “piano piano” schools, is a supporter of the total union of Trambaix with the Trambesòs, but wants the works on that section that will be missing to link the two lines to be addressed without haste, most likely not in this mandate that runs until the 2027 elections.
It will be more difficult to meet the demand of the common people to draw more green axes in the style of Consell de Cent street. Already before the campaign for the 2023 municipal elections, Jaume Collboni made it clear that this is not his preferred urban transformation model and put on the table his commitment to seek other types of road pacification and to achieve more urban greenery by acting in the apple interiors.
Other demands of the commons are to expand the network of bike lanes (another project that the socialists take very calmly after verifying that many of the cycle paths opened in recent times have very little use): expand the public dentist service and create a municipal perspective (a laudable aspect that may clash with legal obstacles), increase investment in culture (something completely acceptable) and expand public daycare places (a measure that no municipal group discusses).
Thus, either one of the two parties gives in – and a lot – or the budgets that Collboni wants to approve on March 22 will not have the votes of BComú.
