The resignation of Jaume Collboni as first deputy mayor of the Barcelona City Council, with the excuse of giving greater priority to promoting his candidacy for the leadership of the Catalan capital in the elections of May 28th, is news as surprising as it is strange just a few months before the municipal elections. The candidate of the Catalan Socialists (PSC) leaves after eight years as part of Ada Colau's team, aware, perhaps, that his strategy of having one foot in the city government and the other maintaining his distances had no credibility whatsoever. The appearance of Xavier Trias on the municipal chessboard is triggering movements that are certainly out of the ordinary. A week ago it was Ernest Maragall who resigned from his role as a deputy in the Catalan Parliament, also to dedicate himself exclusively to the campaign as a candidate of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC). Collboni has made a similar move.
It is obvious that the Colau effect, and her ability to wear down the political parties that support her, is based on the fact that she is always the only beneficiary of her initiatives, since the radiation effect of her politics ends up scorching all allies. This was not the case in the municipal elections of 2019, for two reasons: there was no clearly anti-Colau candidacy - surprisingly, if there was one, it was that of Manuel Valls, who ended up giving her four more years as mayor, along with his colleague Eva Parera, who now, in a different political adventure, is disowning the mayor - and, for the so-called "Upper Diagonal" interests, it was more important to prevent the pro-independence candidacy of Ernest Maragall than a new mandate for Colau.
The arrival of Trias in the campaign, with the strategy he is taking, has had an initial effect of changing the context in which the dispute had been taking place until that moment. Trias is, very clearly, the candidate most differentiated from Colau and this is the card he is playing - so far, successfully. Collboni is not prepared to leave the path clear for the Junts candidate and that is why he has left the city council and the institutional position he had. It is, in part, the recognition of a mistake, since some of the leaders of the party have been prodding him for a long time to take advantage of the momentum of a party on the rise which, according to the polls, is the situation of the PSC. Now, his move comes late and he will have a hard time explaining it. In addition to the fact that it is debatable that it gives him the extra distancing from Colau that he is looking for. This very Monday, the news came as a surprise to many Socialist leaders, who did not know whether to read something else into his strange move.
Collboni and Maragall are also competing in the search for personalities who can strengthen their respective electoral lists. Both have been working for weeks, and even months, to bring aboard the profiles they need most. The first requires someone who offers guarantees of economic solvency, and the second, various complements to cover spaces that neither ERC nor Ernest Maragall himself reach. Above all, because the surname Maragall, which acted as a magnet in the candidacy four years ago, is unlikely to have the same electoral impact, or at least that's how the polls portray it. As do the internal party surveys, which are held with a certain frequency. If anyone thought that the battle of Barcelona would be hard fought, you can now bet your life that it will be. And just in case something was missing, the National Audience is looking over its Trias files, a classic if it weren't for the fact that, against the ex-mayor, the judiciary and the State sewers have already tried everything. And, surely, a new campaign like the one of 2015 would strengthen him more than do him harm.