Carles Puigdemont is trying to agree on a candidate list for the Barcelona mayoral election to sideline former mayor Xavier Trias, according to sources within Junts. Trias has resisted attempts by Puigdemont's camp in Waterloo to install Junts vice-president Josep Rius as the lead candidate for months. This led Junts to delay naming its municipal candidate until just before summer, hoping Trias will accept the proposed solution.
Trias finished first in the last municipal elections but was removed at the last minute by a surprise agreement between PSC, Comuns, and the PP, which made Jaume Collboni mayor. However, Trias controls Junts' Barcelona Federation and wants the current city councillor, Josep Martí i Galbis, to be the candidate.
According to NacióDigital, Puigdemont's current proposal is a single list with Josep Rius as the lead candidate and Josep Martí in third place. A woman would be placed between them, sources from the pro-independence party indicate. This list would then be put to a vote by the Barcelona Federation to legitimise the choice from Waterloo. The goal is for Xavier Trias, 79, to agree.
Avoiding Primary Elections
If Trias does not agree, the Junts Barcelona Federation would hold primary elections between Josep Rius and Josep Martí i Galbis, which Puigdemont wants to avoid. Puigdemont knows that if primaries are held in the Catalan capital, he will need to get deeply involved. The Barcelona area is not the most favourable to his interests. A loss would be a disaster, and even a narrow win would weaken his position. Therefore, a list with agreed-upon top names is seen as the best solution, a scenario the party leadership wants to achieve.
Puigdemont's main ally in this effort is the party's secretary general, Jordi Turull, who also views Barcelona primaries as a danger to the party leadership's authority. Their authority would be severely questioned if primaries were to take place.
Junts faces poor prospects in the upcoming municipal elections. The party currently has eight councillors, but polls suggest they will win only five or six. One risk is that the PP could overtake them. The Popular Party has already named its candidate, Daniel Sirera. Some polls even suggest the PP could become the third-largest force, ahead of Junts. No Junts candidate beyond the fifth spot in Barcelona is guaranteed to win a seat.
Junts' Declining Presence
Junts has already lost its presence in Barcelona's first metropolitan ring, with only two councillors remaining in El Prat. In the second ring, they control Sant Cugat, where they expect to win again. However, their outlook is poor elsewhere. In Sabadell, Junts suspended two of its councillors, leaving the party without representation. There is a risk of being excluded from the councils of Terrassa and Sabadell, as has already happened in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Badalona. This could mean Junts is absent from the majority of cities where most Catalans live, while Aliança Catalana gains ground in smaller towns.
Junts has repeatedly postponed the decision on the Barcelona mayoral candidate. The stated reason has always been Puigdemont's return, which has been delayed due to legal reasons. However, underlying issues include organisational problems, a lack of good prospects, political repositioning, and leadership challenges. Junts is struggling to be an effective opposition, having lost the Generalitat and finding a political message to explain the 2017 defeat.
In large part, Xavier Trias's strong results in the 2023 Barcelona mayoral election were misleading. The 'anti-Colau' effect was as significant as the 'Trias effect'. Without Ada Colau, Junts is left without a clear opponent, and the city returns to a more conventional political environment where the PSC of Salvador Illa and Jaume Collboni are more adept.
