Sílvia Orriols, who served as mayor of Llívia from 2011 to 2015, is contemplating a return to politics, according to an interview with ARA. Orriols, who left politics in 2021, stated that she does not rule out another run, explaining, "I didn't like how I left." She confirmed she would not join Aliança Catalana.
Orriols, a Cerdanya politician, said that her political career is "not a definitively closed chapter." She has received offers, noting, "Here we all talk to everyone," but did not confirm any firm proposals. She explicitly rejected the idea of joining Aliança Catalana, stating, "I wouldn't accept it, I am more open and I don't like their anti-immigration discourse; here in the village, we have always had immigration, and as a construction manager, I work with people from all countries across the region."
Name Confusion Impacts Daily Life
The rise of the Aliança Catalana leader, also named Sílvia Orriols, has significantly affected the former Llívia mayor's life, especially after the other Orriols became mayor of Ripoll. "We are quite opposite, but since we are from neighbouring regions, at first, when she started appearing in the news, friends from Barcelona would call me to ask if I was the new mayor of Ripoll, as I had been in politics," she explained. Her daily routine now often involves clarifying her identity.
"When I call someone for work and they don't know me, I have to tell them I'm not the one from Ripoll," she admitted, adding that she has never spoken to her namesake. She has never felt so scrutinised, particularly when travelling outside her local area, such as visiting a doctor in Barcelona. "People turn around to see if it's her, it's not a very common surname either."
She experienced the other Orriols' influence firsthand when her son needed to take exams at Ripoll's institute for an ski instructor qualification. "I called the centre because I needed to speak with him and they returned my call in just five minutes when I told them I was Sílvia Orriols, I suppose surprised or scared." She finds this puzzling, given her adopted son is Black. The former mayor also noted that her digital footprint has been erased by the Aliança Catalana leader's omnipresence online. "A few days ago I typed Sílvia Orriols into the search engine and now nothing about me comes up, no reviews, when before there were some from my time at the Town Hall, but I don't care," she said with resignation.
Political Career in Llívia
Sílvia Orriols' political career was not brief. She first entered Llívia's council in 2007 as the leader of an independent list linked to the PSC, securing three representatives against Esquerra's six, which held an absolute majority. Four years later, her candidacy aligned with CiU, and Orriols won overwhelmingly with eight out of nine councillors. This election saw Esquerra absent due to the emergence of Reagrupament, led by former Puigcerdà mayor Joan Carretero, which fractured the party in Cerdanya.
Orriols explained the party change, stating, "The towns in the Pyrenees are convergent and CiU was more rooted in the region and also governed the Generalitat and the Diputació, and that helps because it's easier to talk to them when you need help." Although she won the 2015 elections again with four councillors, Endavant Cerdanya (3) and ERC (2) formed a coalition to remove her from power. In the subsequent elections, she lost by only eleven votes to these two parties, which ran together. In 2021, after fourteen years on the council and six as head of the opposition, Orriols resigned as a councillor.
Legacy and Future Considerations
During her departure, the then-mayor, Elies Nova, presented her with a bouquet and a silver pin featuring the municipal crest, acknowledging her dedication to the town. Orriols, however, remains hurt, stating, "It was a nice farewell, but Nova removed me from the mayoralty when I had won the elections and should have been mayor from 2015 to 2019." Under her leadership, the medieval pharmacy, one of Europe's oldest, was reopened, and the castle was made accessible to the public.
Her proudest achievement, according to Orriols, was significantly reducing Llívia's debt, which had made it one of Catalonia's most indebted towns. Between 2011 and 2015, she reduced the debt by 65%, nearly one million euros, by optimising resources. However, even artificial intelligence struggles to recognise her legacy due to the other Sílvia Orriols' online prominence. An AI search for her achievements in Llívia stated, "There is no reliable public information indicating that Sílvia Orriols has cleared or reduced any debt of the Llívia Town Council. What is documented is that Orriols serves as mayor of Ripoll and a Member of Parliament, but has had no institutional responsibility in Llívia. Llívia is a different municipality, with its own town council and local government."
Orriols' potential return to politics remains open, driven by her desire for a more satisfactory conclusion to her public service. Any future political involvement would be independent of Aliança Catalana, reflecting her differing views on immigration and her commitment to a more inclusive approach.
