The independence candidate Eines de País-Un Pas més, which aspires to revalidate its mandate at the head of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, yesterday launched a message of harmony towards the other aspirants and denied that its option is directed against the establishment. “There are many profiles with which we could understand each other,” said Toni Fitó in reference to the alternative list that Josep Santacreu will lead. He also welcomed the fact that Banc Sabadell and Agbar are contesting the elections, in this case without being part of any list and will compete for a plenary position in each of their corresponding activity groups.
Fitó is, together with the current president Mònica Roca, one of the strongest candidates to preside over the institution and it is likely that there will be an alternation and the four years of the mandate will be shared between the two. The two agreed to describe their initiative as “plural and transversal” and a reflection of “the different pro-independence options”, while refusing to delve into the criticism they have recently launched against ERC, which they accuse of being behind Santacreu’s list. . In any case, they launched an invitation to Santacreu to hold general, thematic and sectoral debates before the votes next September.
“We are businessmen, not managers,” said the CEO of Parlem Telecom, Ernest Pérez-Mas, in another veiled reference to Santacreu, who in February left the management of the insurance company DKV. In yesterday’s presentation, Ada Parellada (Semproniana restaurant), Gabriel Gené (La Mallorquina and Barcelona Open), Eduard Torres (Duquessa de Cardona hotel and Turisme de Barcelona) and Xavier Sunyer (entrepreneur and member of the Chamber’s executive committee) also appeared .
Everyone agreed that in the last four years the Chamber has experienced a major “shake up” and Mònica Roca defended the work of the government, with the institution’s approach to companies and the self-employed. What she regretted is not having obtained the approval of the Catalan camera law, which she attributed to Pimec’s opposition. That has been reflected in the accounts, as she explained, because with the new law 3.5 million more could have been entered (5 million for the 13 chambers as a whole).
As in 2019, the initiative is supported by the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), which, however, is maintaining a more discreet role than four years ago.
