Ana Barceló (Sax, 1959) practiced law before dedicating herself to politics. She was mayor of her town, but it was the dark days of her confinement, which she had to live as Minister of Health, that made her face and her voice familiar to Valencian homes. Her penultimate mission has consisted of acting as spokesperson for the socialist parliamentary group in the Corts. She now aspires to become mayoress of Alicante.
Married, with two children, “now grown, one lives in Tokyo and the other in Castellón”, she has spent weeks focused on the task of knowing and making herself known. From an office located in the premises that were occupied by a bank branch for years, on the corner of Avenida de la Estación and General Lacy, right in front of the Provincial Council chaired by the PP candidate for the Presidency of the Generalitat Valenciana, a great portrait of him wearing the yellow jacket that he has chosen for the pre-election posters (we are not yet in the campaign, who would have thought) questions the many passers-by who come and go.
Another portrait of the same size of Ximo Puig, president of the Generalitat Valenciana, proves the harmony between the two. That she is here today, in front of us, is due, in the first instance, to a conversation between the two that ignited a candidacy for mayor representing the PSPV-PSOE that only the most seasoned commentators had intuited as possible.
Given previous experiences, few expected her to become a candidate with little internal resistance.
I believe that the party has acted responsibly at all times and with respect for the decisions that we have been adopting throughout this time. The party has had a high vision and has put the general interest above; has placed Alicante above more partisan issues.
Has the fact of having gone through a primary benefit you? Has it allowed you to avoid the image of being an external imposition?
Yes. In the end, some primaries endorse the election. The truth is that it has been an interesting process that also gave me the opportunity to meet with the militancy, something that without that primary process would have been more complicated, or at least not so necessary.
Listening processes are in fashion. You hold daily meetings with numerous groups. Have these meetings changed your perception of the city a lot?
What we see is that the government has turned its back on the city. And we have come across entities, people, organized society… that have an enormous need to convey what they think. I don’t know if the perspective has changed, but from the first meeting, in each coffee we have had, in each meeting, they have told us that the city is abandoned. They have not felt heard, the citizens have not been counted on in matters in which they think they should participate. If the city does not participate, we are not talking about a government, but about contracted people who are in charge of an administration to manage the city.
Let’s go to what worries the neighbors. The people of Alicante, rightly or wrongly, convey that Alicante is dirty, and it is a problem that comes from behind. A new contract soon comes into force that must be assumed by whoever governs. How do we improve that issue?
When we see the conditions under which this contract has been awarded and we see if it meets the needs of Alicante, we will make decisions. What is evident is that the lack of cleanliness is only the tip of the iceberg that reveals the abandonment of which he spoke. It is that there is no way to find trash cans. It is about ensuring that when the neighbor crosses the threshold of his house, he finds himself in a city where it is a pleasure to walk, sit in a garden, socialize, because everything around you is in clean, well-kept order, which is what which we don’t have now. And if it’s good for the city, imagine for our main source of income, which is tourism. Abandonment brings more abandonment.
Speaking of tourism, there is an interesting debate in which the different leftist forces -their hypothetical partners in a municipal government- hold divergent positions. On the one hand, we try to attract tourists, digital nomads, but given the increase in rental prices, CompromÃs even talks about a moratorium on sales to foreigners… What is your position?
I believe that it is essential for Alicante to have the social model that we all want to be able to generate wealth and economy; without that, we will not be able to sustain the social model of cohesion. Therefore, we cannot close ourselves to the initiatives and to this new economy that is appearing. We have to take advantage of the fact that we have an innovative artificial intelligence hub, we cannot live with our backs to this new economy that is being generated around Alicante, but we must participate and align ourselves.
As?
In many ways. We also have the need to retain talent, and from the city council we also have to get involved with joint plans with the University of Alicante, so that our young people stay, not only receive digital nomads. We want to make a commitment to this retention of talent and to make it easier for nomads to settle and generate an economy, because whoever settles here uses trade, transport, pays their taxes… I would separate two issues: one is our social model. First of all, we have to guarantee housing
And how do you do that?
We want to carry out a great pact with the economic and social agents. We are going to see the needs that Alicante has for public housing and social housing. And see all the public land that we can make available to generate and build those homes that meet current needs. And we have to continue talking about the rehabilitation and renovation of the most degraded neighbourhoods, which are part of the city and the social model that we want to transform.
And on the subject of rent, we want to mediate between apartment owners and potential tenants who need affordable rentals. And the City Council has to play an important role. But we need a well-defined map of the needs that Alicante has. Without forgetting that we are also recipients of people who come with different interests to establish their residence in Alicante. Everything can coexist. The important thing is that basic housing needs are met.
Being a candidate for the PSOE, in the campaign they will surely remind her that the central government, chaired by Pedro Sánchez, has Alicante at the tail of the State investment per inhabitant. What does that say?
I have already said it. Alicante – and I am going to do it this way – he is going to claim what corresponds to him. And the demands that are on the table have to be met. And you have to do it openly, sitting down to talk. Not from the confrontation, I am not a person who confronts, I am a person of convictions, of transferring what are the needs so that Alicante can take off and take advantage of the opportunities. The connection of the airport with the station is fundamental, the Generalitat is already doing its homework when bidding for the intermodal. But the Government of Spain has to comply within acceptable terms. We need to look at Alicante. And for that we have to sit down and talk.
The Palace of Congresses. Will we see you soon if you are mayor?
It is that in this case, the City Council and the Provincial Council have acted without counting on any other administration, except that of the State, to locate it in the port.
But the Generalitat will have to provide funds…
The Generalitat has been left completely on the sidelines. In any case, Puertos del Estado, a state administration, has not raised any problems, on the contrary, it is processing the file for the removal of the land so that a congress center can be built. By the way, announced two or three years ago and only now has the ideas contest been launched. It is not that we will join, but that we will make the project our own because we want it to be executed as soon as possible. The problem with the current administration is that it is slow, it is not efficient; projects cannot be delayed. You can’t announce something without planning its execution.
Left-wing voters have bitter memories of the tripartite that emerged from the 2015 elections, which generated high expectations and ended badly, handing power over to the PP. How do you expect to convince them that if they have a new opportunity, nothing similar will happen?
I already come from a government with three political forces. Of course, we went out to win these elections. But experience is important, and at that time it did not exist. There was no history of how to govern with different political forces, not even for the current bipartisan, which has even seen the budgets conditioned by a party (Vox) that is not within the government or that has conditioned the policies it has carried out. And they have been prisoners of it.
What any government has to preside over is to share the same vision: that of the common good. If we agree that what counts are the interests of the city, what is good for Alicante, and not those of each party, the relationships that can be established will be good.
Do you know your hypothetical partners? Do you have a good relationship with them?
I am a person of dialogue and consensus, of building bridges. The word is one of the most powerful weapons we have. I think they are also dialogue people.
Do you have a relationship with the current mayor beyond the institutional?
No, I’ve known him for years, through our professional career (both are lawyers). Although we have never agreed on any procedure. We have not had any relationship other than the protocol.
If you replace him in office and occupy the office of Mayor, where will you start?
There are many things to start with. The first thing is to know what is the real situation that we find ourselves. But I would like to make a call to all the participation councils of the city to hold a meeting with them. To convey to them that this city is going to listen to them. And we are going to work with all of them so that we can transform Alicante.
Are you afraid that national politics will contaminate the local campaign? Would it be an advantage, a disadvantage?
I am going to focus on the city project that we have.
He is aware that the PSOE attaches great importance to what happens in the Valencian Community on 28M. The presence of Pedro Sánchez on Friday demonstrates this. Addition?
Yes Yes. Of course. The Spanish government is carrying out social and economic policies that are benchmarks in Europe. That is undeniable. The priority that the Prime Minister has given to the social and economic agenda has allowed us to set the pace for Europe and become a benchmark.
Does it bother you that when analyzing regional politics, Alicante is considered a propitious ground for the right?
No. I believe that President Ximo Puig has always maintained a good line of communication with the territory, he has touched ground, he has spoken with all the plurality of voices that exist in Alicante, as in Castellón or Valencia. This is precisely what cannot be said of the Popular Party candidate, who has not set foot in Valencia or Castellón, and takes refuge in Alicante because he holds the presidency of the Provincial Council. President Puig is here, but not now, but always, because he has always had that decentralizing vision.
Puig came to speak of bicapitality between Valencia and Alicante. Seems like a tricky goal.
Well, what is certain is that Alicante is the second capital of the Valencian Community. And he has recently said it. And he recently said it: Alicante is going to be the city of the Mediterranean. And therefore we are going to define well the role that Alicante is going to play in the Valencian Community and the profile that it is going to maintain compared to the rest of Spain, and its European profile. Because we have two great institutions here, such as Casa Mediterráneo and the EUIPO, which have to form part of Alicante’s strengths to be the Mediterranean capital. And the poles that are being generated, such as the City of Light and the Digital District. The government of the Generalitat has been able to define the role played by Alicante more than the city government itself. And we want to overcome this policy of confrontation and lack of dialogue with other administrations.
What do you think that a PP councilor, Julia Llopis, has gone over to Vox?
It hasn’t surprised me at all. The policies that he has carried out are the endorsement that he has presented to Vox.
And the departure of Manuel Jiménez? You have denounced the possible commission of a crime.
We understand that there may be a division of contracts. Justice will have to pronounce itself. This position of the mayor is not so neutral. It is the position he has maintained during these years, not doing anything, not bothering anyone, and it is what he has done now: not showing his face, not responding, prolonging a scandal that he could have resolved from day one… in end, neutrality also has its consequences.
