The third time lucky. Xavier García Albiol, has been proclaimed mayor of Badalona with an overwhelming majority of two thirds of the municipal plenary. Inside the Town Hall, protocol activity was bustling this morning, while in the Plaza de la Vila some two hundred people crowded together cheering the interventions of the new mayor and booing the leader of Guanyem, Dolors Sabater, with particular insistence. Albiol, did not hesitate to go out on the balcony after being invested, accompanied by his family and all his mayors to take a mass bath. From the town hall balcony he made a promise, paraphrasing the historic Andalusian socialist, Alfonso Guerra, in 1982. “If you give me an absolute majority, in four years Badalona will not even be known by the mother who gave birth to her” he recalled that he had promised his unconditional supporters, who applauded under a scorching sun.
The voting process took place without incident other than the inadvertent mistake of the new PP councilor, David Silva, who was about to be sworn in as mayor and not as a councilor as he should have, by misplacing the speech he had on the lectern. After the oaths and promises of office, always under a loud boo when the Guanyem councilor took the floor, who advanced that she will abandon parliamentary activity with the CUP. Sabater preceded the spokesmen who outlined his proposals for the legislature that begins today.
Precisely, Dolors Sabater, as spokesperson for the least voted party with municipal representation, with a single councilor, Guanyem Badalona en Comú, declared – with constant shouts of “out, out” in the background – that she will do politics from the opposition to “return the pride to the city” and that he will always denounce “corruption”. The independentista warned that the absolute majority of the PP “is a danger, since it is the most corrupt party in the state” and the representative of the extreme right “as it has demonstrated by agreeing with Vox in the Valencian Country.”
For her part, Aïda Llauradó, from Badalona En Comú Podem, advocated for a “more fair and equal opportunity” city that leaves “speculators who have money in tax havens” on the sidelines, she said, throwing a single dart at the new mayor. The purple party candidate stressed the need to promote policies that create “educational opportunities, with a public day care center” and that support “immigrants, who have our same duties, but also rights.” She begged the new mayor “not to activate a mandate marked by the abuse of power.”
The great loser in the municipal elections in Badalona, ??either because of the general dynamics in Catalonia or because of the Albiol tsunami, the Republican Àlex Mumbrú, with only two councilors, wished the new mayor “good luck and success” despite regretting that he has won “the populism and electoralism” centered on what he defined as “a magical Badalonisme – the motto of Albiol’s campaign”. He criticized, however, that “they left our offices empty” in the previous term and wished that the PP did not govern “with a thirst for revenge.” The independentista concluded by assuring that today begins “a new four-year long-distance race.”
The last to speak, the former socialist mayor Rubén Guijarro, announced that in all probability “it will be the last time he will speak in a Badalona plenary session” since he maintains the will to “leave the responsibilities of councilor” without renouncing “the militancy and to political involvement. He expects his replacement at the head of the town hall to “project a positive Badalona” and to abandon “the turbulent years” facing the great challenges and, above all, “to help recover the pride of Badalona” so that the city “returns to compete in the league of the big cities”.
In parallel, the PP spokesman and in all probability first deputy mayor, Juan Fernández, had no qualms about reminding the opposition leaders that in previous elections they had “ignored the election results and acted against the will of citizens” generating governments “against nature” and pacts that “did not bring anything good”. In the end, the polls have spoken forcefully and have decided to put an end to what the popular defined as the strategies “intended solely so that Albiol would not govern.” The popular mayor criticized, for example, that in four years “not a single municipal facility has been promoted, nor have the 11 sports facilities that still have closed locker rooms been reformed.” For all these policies, Fernández asserted that “Badalona has been left behind” and therefore it is the mission of the new executive to generate a new Badalona.
After being sworn in and kissing the staff to capture the moment on camera, Xavier García Albiol expressed his gratitude to the more than 50,000 people from Badalona who have allowed him to obtain an overwhelming majority of 18 councillors. The mayor launched a first pacifying and cohesive speech announcing one of his priorities: “seeking consensus with the rest of the political groups, without ruling out anyone, especially those who want to work positively.” Consensuses that he deems necessary “on major city issues” to promote under a strategy focused on “changing priorities.”
Improving the efficiency of the City Council, reactivating elementary and basic services is one of Albiol’s first tasks. “If we are not capable of transforming the City Council into a competent administration” assured the new mayor, “it will be impossible to be efficient”. He has everything he needs for the transformation, as he made clear in his Badalonisme campaign. The new mayor said that he will begin by resolving issues that “directly affect the day-to-day life of the residents” such as cleaning and “I will not let a single minute go by to implement actions that improve security” and fight to put an end to “illegal and conflictive occupations”, a phrase that earned him the loudest applause in the morning. The new mayor ended his speech by addressing his councillors: “comrades, we have the responsibility to write the best future for our city, let no one doubt that we will do it.”
