The thing came from just eleven votes, that was the meager difference between ERC and Junts in the Manresa municipal elections four years ago. After a heart-stopping recount, in which both parties alternated victory, the final photo gave Republican candidate Marc Aloy the winner over the outgoing mayor, Valentà Junyent, from Junts. A technical tie that Solomonically was resolved with a coalition government in which the mayoralty was divided, the first year for Junyent and the remaining three for Aloy. And the thing has resisted with its pluses and minuses until the end of the mandate. Four years later, now that their parent companies are at odds, ERC and Junts seek to undo the tie once and for all, and they are concentrating their efforts on this.
The government candidates share the successes and failures of four years marked by the commemorative acts of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Ignacio de Loyola in the city. An anniversary that has served to reinforce the Ignatian path and vindicate himself. Although the most critical knew little and that they expected something more from such an extraordinary commemoration, the figures for Manresa 2022, as it was called, say that 201,799 people visited the city and that the economic impact was 3.07 million. .
Despite the fact that some polls say otherwise, Aloy aspires to break the tie and consolidate himself at the head of the Manresa City Council. He aspires to this by brandishing the work carried out throughout these three years. He plays in his favor the rupture of the post-convergent space: Junts presents Ramon Bacardit and PDECat Joan Vila. The outgoing mayor seeks victory to give continuity to the big projects, such as the transformation of the old Fà brica Nova into a pole of knowledge, hand in hand with the UPC. There is also the burying of the FGC lines, which will leave new green areas around Paseo Pere III. For the next mandate, the reforms of the most emblematic streets of the city center are pending: the Guimerà , which will be pedestrian only, and the Vic and Cardona roads.
Just as the Republicans maintain their commitment to Aloy, Junyent’s voluntary resignation has forced Junts to look for a replacement, which it has found in the figure of the architect Ramón Bacardit, who has served as Town Planning councilor. Despite the handicap of having governed with the Republicans these years, Bacardit has turned order and security into his campaign bastions. Despite the fact that the crime figures have not increased, the perception of insecurity has skyrocketed in the center of Manresa, where residents and merchants have raised their voices to protest. If he reaches the mayor’s office, Bacardit also proposes to reinforce the attention service to the owners who suffer an occupation through the technical housing office, which according to him has done little in recent years. Bacardit has not been able to avoid the rupture of the post-convergent space, and the businessman, a member of Pimec, Joan Vila, has decided to make war on his part, leading the Impulsem candidacy, which has the support of PDECat. The former mayor Junyent, who in the break with Junts aligned himself with the PDECat, remains neutral for now.
There is also a relay in the PSC, where the political scientist Anjo Valentà takes the reins of the candidacy to continue growing; In 2019, then with the socialist Felip González at the helm, they went from three to four councilors. Roser Alegre will repeat as mayor of Fem Manresa with the aim of reiterating results that positioned the anti-capitalists as the fourth force with 10% of the votes and 3 councilors. The other formation with representation in the City Council is Ciudadanos, which is also headlining again. Despite the fact that the game is going through the most critical moment of his career, Andrés Rojo aspires to improve his recent results, which earned him two councillors.
They complete the ten candidacies presented in the Manresa municipal elections: Josep LluÃs Javaloyes (PP), Ana Querol (Manresa En Comú Podem), Sergi Perramon (National Front of Catalonia) and Inmaculada Cervilla Galera (Vox).
