Josep Santacreu will almost certainly be the consensus candidate supported by the large business organizations for the next elections to the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce. At this time, a group of prominent businessmen, from very diverse sectors and ideologies, is finalizing his candidacy to compete with the one also prepared by Eines de PaÃs, the independence team that won four years ago by an overwhelming majority.
Now, part of what is known as the establishment wants to avoid the division that occurred in 2019 with Enric Crous and Carles Tusquets competing for the same groups of voters and ultimately losing the elections. For this reason, for months contacts have been made with the utmost discretion between large companies and also business associations.
Sources familiar with these contacts assure that the name of Santacreu, a manager with a recognized professional career, is viewed favorably in the business world. For years, the former director of DKV was part of Femcat, a nationalist association, although the process that is taking place seeks a “great transversality without ideological bias of any kind”.
“It did not fall within my forecasts but I have valued the proposal and I think it is a great opportunity to form a candidacy that integrates business diversity, from the self-employed, SMEs to large companies. The intention is to prepare “a collegiate leadership, not a presidential one,” Santacreu explained to La Vanguardia. His decision has also been favored by the fact that he now enjoys greater availability after leaving the position of chief executive of DKV at the beginning of March.
Santacreu also insists that a team “with ideological diversity” be prepared, without being linked to any acronym or groups of organized thought or political orientation.
The team that is being configured could also leave the future replacement, the person who could run for president in 2027.
The driving group is now waiting for them to announce the elections and the deadlines for the process, starting with the one that will establish until when candidates can present themselves.
The Chamber is not unknown territory for Santacreu, who was part of the plenary session of the institution during three of the terms of the late president Miquel Valls, although he did not appear in the last elections.
But winning the elections is not an easy task. You have to have candidates capable of winning their seat vote by vote in each of the 52 groups, the so-called economic headings, from which the members of the plenary come out, who will later elect the president and the executive committee.
With this electoral model of epigraphs, an attempt is made to guarantee the presence of all business sectors based on their economic importance in the territory, which demonstrates the capacity that the institution can have to have capillarity in all areas of economic activity. But it is also very complex to campaign and gather votes, because some groups include very diverse and highly fragmented sectors. The support of the most relevant companies in each group is not enough, but it is vital to obtain the support of the associative world, unions, professional associations and business organizations of all kinds. This is something that is very clear to the group promoting Santacreu’s candidacy, which has already begun to gather support in the large Catalan associative world.
There are 52 epigraphs in which the battle must be fought, 12 more than four years ago. The increase is explained by the decision of the current management team, headed by Mònica Roca, which has changed the internal regulations to reduce the number of seats occupied in exchange for a financial contribution, the so-called silver seats. It has gone from 14 to only two.
In media close to the candidacy, it is highlighted that the Barcelona Chamber is a key instrument for the business fabric. particularly in the field of internationalization and training, and also for its role as interlocutor with the administrations. These same sources stress that in this last term the entity has not demonstrated sufficient operational and executive capacity, largely due to its politicization, which is why a change of course is necessary. “You have to aspire to a Chamber that is less bureaucratic, more operational and more oriented towards its main clients: businessmen,” they pointed out.
Although the elections are not expected until next September, the movements have already begun a long time ago. Starting with Eines de PaÃs itself. Although she has not made it explicit in public, it is assumed that President Mònica Roca will not run for office again, although she could be part of the list of candidates in its corresponding heading. This same week Joan Canadell, former president of the Chamber and deputy of Junts, has advanced to the newspaper Ara his intention to re-introduce himself to be a member of the plenary session. In the previous Eines de PaÃs elections, he prevailed with 31 of the 40 members that were put to the vote, a vast majority that has allowed him to govern without opposition for the last four years.
