Junts councillors become unaffiliated after court overturns injunctions
Lluís Matas and Katia Botta will sit as unaffiliated councillors in Sabadell’s city council after the judicial system dismissed the precautionary measures that had temporarily maintained their municipal group. The decision, confirmed on Tuesday 15 September 2026, will be formally communicated during the city council’s informative committee meeting and later ratified at the September plenary session. This marks the end of Junts per Catalunya’s representation in Sabadell’s local government, following a protracted internal crisis. The split originated in late 2025 when party members voted to withdraw from the governing coalition with the PSC, led by Mayor Marta Farrés. Matas and Botta opposed the move and were instructed to vote against fiscal ordinances they had previously supported, which they refused to do.
Legal battle and political realignment
Matas and Botta challenged their expulsion from the party and sought urgent injunctions to participate in a local Junts assembly in May 2026, calling the disciplinary process a "fake" procedure with a "pre-written sentence" designed to sideline them ahead of the 2027 elections. They argued the process lacked democratic legitimacy and was driven by a progressive faction aligned with national leadership figures including Carles Puigdemont and Jordi Turull. Despite their legal efforts, the courts ultimately rejected their appeals, clearing the way for the formal dissolution of the Junts municipal group. The councillors had remained in post under temporary measures until this week’s ruling.
New coalition emerges as independence movement fragments
Francesc Baró, former president of Junts in Sabadell, now leads a new electoral coalition called 'Acció per Sabadell'. The platform, which includes former ERC leader Gabriel Fernàndez, ex-regidor Amadeu Papiol, and ex-ICV councillor Carme García, will run in the 2027 municipal elections without using the Junts name. This strategic shift reflects an effort to consolidate pro-independence votes under a new banner after the party’s local fracture. The coalition’s formation follows a vote by Junts membership in April 2026 to expel Matas and Botta, a move that triggered the current political realignment. With both councillors now unaffiliated, Junts holds no seats in the council, significantly weakening its local influence ahead of next year’s elections.
Reported by metropoliabierta.elespanol.com, metropoliabierta.cat, Marta Puig i Vidal, diaridesabadell.com, El Periódico, eb.sabadell.cat, radiosabadell.fm, Verónica González M, 20minutos.es, VilaWeb, fitxers.sabadell.cat, Ràdio Sabadell.
