Xavier Trias was deprived of the mayoralty of Barcelona on Saturday at the last moment, after Daniel Sirera’s PP and Ada Colau’s commons offered their votes to Jaume Collboni, the PSC candidate and new mayor. His anger and indignation are public and notorious, but the convergent former mayor does not rule out an agreement with the Socialists in the Barcelona Provincial Council, which will be established next July on a date yet to be determined. “I’m not against that pact,” he says.
“That I am angry and indignant does not mean that we are not intelligent in life,” Trias stated on Monday in statements to TV3. However, the decision will be made by the party, as stated by the leader of JxCat.
In the previous legislature of this supra-municipal entity, Junts per Catalunya and the PSC had already shared the government, and both parties had always valued the agreement as positive, which four years ago caused internal noise in the post-convergent ranks and criticism from other sovereign formations. But the framework has changed and agreeing with the Socialists is no longer taboo. Proof of this is that ERC has agreed with the PSC in the councils of Lleida and Tarragona, although it had a majority with the post-convergents in both entities.
The Junts candidate in the Catalan capital in the municipal elections on May 28 and winner of the elections wanted to differentiate the figure of Collboni – “Everything he says is lies. He has not said a single thing that he has complied with because there is people who, simply, never tell the truth”, Trias pointed out in statements to RAC1–, of other leaders of the socialist formation, such as Núria Marín, mayoress of l’Hospitalet de Llobregat and president of the Barcelona Provincial Council in the previous term . He has stressed that she “has great respect for him” because “he is a person who keeps his word.” In similar terms he has expressed himself about Antonio Balmón, mayor of Cornellà de Llobregat, with whom he coincided in the governing body of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area.
Trias, who was not in favor of JxCat leaving the Government in October of last year, believes that his party should always be in government whenever possible and “seek ways of collaboration so that the country can move forward.” For this reason, he has stressed that he is not against the socio-vergent pact in the council.
Regarding what happened on Saturday, Trias considers that Ada Colau, former mayor, “has achieved what she wanted” and “her obligation”. “An important thing, that his family continue to sit down and continue to earn a living. Mr. Collboni’s first decision is to keep them all in their place. It is a resounding case. A few days ago they said that everything was working fatally, not now,” he said. Trias apostilled, who believes that it is “sung” that the commoners, who already have guaranteed intermediate positions, will enter the municipal government.
Regarding his future, the 76-year-old former mayor has not changed the script he set when he agreed to be the Junts candidate and now he has to agree with the party when he leaves Barcelona City Council. “The first thing I will do is consolidate the team we have, put order and charge us all with strength. And I will make the decision to leave according to my party. It is a firm decision. I don’t know how many months or days I will be here. I will do what he asks me the party and the people who are part of the candidacy”, revealed Trias, who believes that he has earned his retirement. “I made a team of people to govern and we do not govern, this is a sinkhole. This afternoon I will meet with them,” he added.
In any case, he has offered to collaborate in the electoral campaign for the general elections on July 23 with his formation. “For everything they need, Trias will go to rallies anywhere, to explain the truth of what is happening to us,” he promised.
