Marc Puigtió resigned on Thursday 6 August 2026 as Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya's (ERC), or Catalan Republican Left's, candidate for mayor of Girona in the May 2027 municipal elections. His departure leaves the party, a Catalan political force, needing to choose a new candidate in a city where its local members had already selected him for the ballot.

Puigtió said he was stepping down "out of dignity and responsibility" after recordings circulated by the Instagram account Girona Perduda caused internal controversy. ERC had opened disciplinary proceedings over the recordings.

"The mistake is mine, and I am the one who must make decisions and accept the consequences," Puigtió said in comments reported by the Catalan News Agency, ACN.

The former candidate apologised to people who had felt disappointed, hurt or uncomfortable. He said the recordings were private conversations that had been edited and presented out of context, while accepting that this did not reduce his responsibility.

Recordings referred to councillors and party branding

In excerpts from the recordings, Puigtió said he wanted to remove all current ERC councillors from Girona City Council. He also said he used ERC's logo at events organised through Moviment Gironí, the platform he founded, because ERC would have to pay for them.

Puigtió said he was concerned by the recording, editing and publication of private conversations for political purposes. He nevertheless said ERC's Girona project was more important than his own position.

A selection disputed by one vote

Puigtió had been confirmed as ERC's Girona candidate in November 2025 after the party's Commission of Guarantees rejected challenges to the primary result. The vote had been decided by a single ballot.

  • Puigtió received 28 votes in the ERC Girona primary.
  • His rival, former Education delegate Adam Manyé, received 27.
  • There were two blank ballots and one invalid ballot, which contained an ERC logo sticker covering part of Manyé's name.

The party's legal advisers declared that ballot invalid. Manyé challenged the outcome, but ERC's Commission of Guarantees later upheld Puigtió's candidacy.

ERC will now begin a process to appoint a new lead candidate in Girona for the May 2027 elections. Moviment Gironí is due to hold an assembly in September to decide its next steps, while Puigtió will remain an ERC member.

Reported by ACN, vilaweb.cat, Jordi Martín, publico_es, Quico Sallés, Tapi Carreras, Redacció, Aniol Costa-Pau, lavanguardia.com, Gerard Mateo, eldiarioes, Quico Sallés Girona, VilaWeb.