Who day passes, year pushes. And in this way, they are about to celebrate the one hundred days of the smallest municipal government in the recent history of Barcelona. But the minority government (with 10 out of 41 councilors) did not prevent Mayor Jaume Collboni from exhibiting muscle and ambition yesterday without the need to underpin any stable pact and yes “maximum capacity for dialogue”. The mayor thanked ERC and Junts for the ability to reach consensus on “important issues” such as the reform of the civics ordinance and a major agreement on housing and did not mention BComú at any time during the balance sheet appearance of the first hundred days
“A hundred days are many or few, depending on how you look at it; but we have very clear priorities”, insisted Collboni, flanked by deputy mayors Albert Batlle, Laia Bonet and Eugenia Gay, and excused the presence of Jordi Valls, who was presiding over the Economy committee. The mayor began by reiterating the axis on which the decisions have revolved, that of the three o’s: “Of the order, the opportunities and the pride that we want to recover”, he affirmed.
“Sometimes to go further you have to go slower, for projects that transcend the mandate, consensus beyond the municipal government is important”, said Collboni, who insisted on the mantra: “I am and will be a progressive mayor, with a progressive program, but for an agreement the other parties are needed; now there are two more parties and it is not only up to my group to form the majority I aspire to, and this does not exclude agreements with the main group of the City Council, which is Junts”. And the example, “just today we have seen that some of the important actions have been launched at the initiative of the opposition, ERC and Junts”.
After emphasizing dialogue as the government’s number one priority, Collboni referred to public space and the Endreça Plan: “More cleaning brigades, more control, more inspections, more penalties… We are the city that invests the most in cleaning in Spain and this should be noticed on the street; we sanction those who violate coexistence and break the rules in public space”. He referred to the 250 more agents of the Urban Guard, to whom must be added the 215 Mossos d’Esquadra of the new promotion that will also be assigned to Barcelona, ??who will join the city in the coming days.
On urban development, he insisted that the number one priority is Ciutat Vella. “We are working on the strategic urban and social regeneration plan with all the entities”, he pointed out. And he mentioned the acceleration of the works on the Rambla and those on Via Laietana as strategic actions for the transformation of the neighborhood.
The 2025-2028 Neighborhood Plan could not be missing from the 100-day portfolio, “on which the first work has begun and the budget has doubled, reaching 300 million”; the infrastructure advisory council “and the importance of major events, such as the America’s Cup, the start of the Vuelta or soon the Picasso and Miró exhibition”.
Not even when he referred to the School Climate Plan, the mayor did not mention his government partners until a hundred days ago, BComú. Collboni recalled that the program to air-condition and install photovoltaic panels in the 170 educational centers of Barcelona will involve an investment of 100 million euros that will be financed with the tourist tax, with an average annual amount of 17 million.
On the coverage of the round, he advanced that the tender for a first section will be approved at the urban planning commission in October and when he was asked about the urbanization of the superilla of Sant Antoni he concluded with a “all what has been approved will go ahead”.
