Jaume Collboni receives La Vanguardia at the Barcelona City Council 24 hours after being invested as mayor of the city in a very tense session and with a result that shortly before was quite unexpected. The new mayor trusts that the events experienced in Saló de Cent will not take their toll, he aspires to maintain a very good relationship with the rest of the political forces and does not seem particularly worried about the fact that he will start governing with only ten councillors.
Were you satisfied with how the investiture took place? A bad atmosphere was perceived. Can this affect city governance?
I am very excited to be the new mayor and I have every determination to open a new stage in the city. The change will be noticed, it will be noticed that there is a new mayor and that the PSC is taking the reins again.
Does he worry that the image of someone who is willing to do anything to achieve his goal can be projected?
I think everyone understands, on the street I perceive a lot of joy, a lot of enthusiasm for the change. I want to be the mayor of all Barcelona residents, with consensus, with dialogue, with agreements, without going against anyone. This is our motto as a party that has governed Barcelona and this is my determination and way of doing things. Pacts are part of politics. We have all sought agreements with each other, except with the extreme right, to make a government viable, and this has been the result. In some councils, such as that of Girona, the reverse has happened and no one has thought of saying that there was illegitimacy in the appointment of the mayor. I trust to be able to restore the good climate and I have a lot of trust in the municipal leaders, I will extend my hand to them.
To what degree has this pact been cooked up in Madrid?
in chief This was a Barcelona key agreement
But in the last week there has been great pressure from the Socialist Government to end up producing this result?
No. There were political positions, but the decision to vote, I assure you, was made in this house, between these four walls.
Ada Colau said that you had offered her a secret deal which she refused. What was he referring to?
There have been no secret agreements. The motivations behind the votes of the groups that invested in me have been explained by themselves. There has been no secret agreement.
When he says he represents change, how will the people of Barcelona notice? What will you do in the next few days?
To begin, I will convene the municipal leaders and the main social and economic organizations of the city, I will establish the first decisions regarding maintaining and increasing institutional relations with the governments of the Generalitat and the State. The sign of identity in these first weeks will be the agreement at the City Council and the city. And applying my electoral program, let no one be deceived, because a socialist mayor has been invested who has a social democratic project based on economic growth, social justice, the protection of public services and institutional loyalty.
Beyond looking for agreements, is there any concrete, symbolic measure that can visualize change in the first days of the mandate?
The positions we maintained in the campaign and our electoral commitments I keep intact. We are not in favor of making 22 green axes, we are in favor of connecting the tram, making it 30% more flexible… The councilors who voted for my candidacy know this. I have to be very aware of the arithmetic and the ability to make agreements in order to carry out these decisions. What worries me urgently? First, guarantee institutional continuity and the full operation of public services. Everything that has to do with cleaning, with maintenance, with security. This is a large human organization with a very large budget and making a transition like this takes time. I hope for the citizens’ understanding. We know the city very well and how the City Council works and I come from the tradition of a party that has governed the city for 30 years. Projects such as the America’s Cup were promoted by civil society, which dragged the City Council along. I will be a mayor facilitating the social and private initiatives that exist in the city. I want a City Council that stands by people who are entrepreneurs, who are creative, who have initiatives. I will be a mayor who wants Barcelona to shine again in the world. The city and Catalonia have a great need to give positive news to the world, to recover self-esteem and pride. We have the extraordinary opportunity to solve problems such as housing. We will be the first city to apply the housing law of the Government of Spain. We need public and public-private impetus.
Is governing with ten councilors possible? Will you have a preferred partner? Will they be common?
I will start a round of talks with municipal leaders to talk about urgent issues that do not necessarily need to be voted on in a plenary session. Losing votes on resolutions worries me, because democratically the mayor should be concerned about the opinion of the plenary groups, but government action is guaranteed, with the ten councilors as well. What is optimal is to make majorities that allow you to approve important decisions, such as budgets, in a few months. I will work steadily to build majorities that make it possible to make city decisions. With who? I want to be very clear, because I have been during the entire campaign and I was only a few days ago when, on Thursday, I asked for the support of BComú to form a progressive government. In three days I will not change my position. The commons legitimately decided to go into opposition. I’m not talking about expanding the government. Now, for now, I just hope that we build a shared agenda in the coming months. I want to be everyone’s mayor and that the measures we take have as much consensus as possible in the city. I am aware that there is a broad central majority that will allow measures like the ones I mentioned before to go ahead. The PSC is the party of agreements, of political centrality in Catalonia and it will also be in Barcelona. We are the party that wants to overcome the blocks and the trenches, the one that is making agreements with more different parties throughout Catalonia.
When everything calms down, someone else will be able to enter the government, be it BComú or Junts?
I aspire to have a governable city. We have a healthy economy at the City Council, very interesting urban, cultural, sporting, social and housing projects can be carried forward. We have a lot of resources and a lot of people to do it, and drive and determination from the City Council. How far can we go? As far as we can I consider all possibilities. The goal is to make the city governable and stable. We are a party that stabilizes institutions, not destabilizes them.
The PP said that the commons should not enter the government. Does it feel conditioned?
There is a decision regarding the investiture that the PP must explain. I respect their decisions. They know that they are voting for the PSC candidate, who has a specific program. As I have already said, there is no secret pact or hidden role, or anything strange, as has been speculated, and I will govern with ten councilors and with a program, which is what the socialist voters have voted for. I’ll see how far I can get by talking to everyone. We have many projects underway, such as La Rambla, Via Laietana, neighborhood plan actions that we want to promote, we want to invest in the neighborhoods again…
And the programmatic proposals that Daniel Sirera made to vote in his favor?
I do not have any kind of binding or conditioning of the proposals of any party other than my own. Having said that, I want to publicly thank the PP councilors and the commons for their support.
