Àngel Ros, president of the PSC party and mayor of Lleida for the last 14 years, will be the Spanish ambassador to Andorra, once the authorities of the Pyrenean country have given the corresponding diplomatic blessing and the cabinet proceeds with his nomination, most likely this Friday.
Ros, among accusations of nepotism, thus finds refuge in a Spanish government role after expressing his wish to leave the Paeria, Lleida's city hall, months out from the municipal election and with multiple open fronts seriously threatening his mayoralty. It couldn't be a Madrid role, a secretary of state or a public company as he wanted, but, on the other hand, he'll have a diplomatic passport and work a hundred kilometres from Lleida.
The last few years have left their mark on Ros's long political career, thanks to his leading roles in three important disputes. The first, which affected the running of the city hall, was a complaint from his long-time number two over his personal expenses. The case was open with anti-corruption prosecutors for two years and was finally filed. At the same time, the mayor was adjusting his political positions and, having been a supporter of the right to decide and forming part of the most pro-Catalan wing of the PSC, he ended up renouncing that and reaching pacts with Ciutadans.
The second incident was to do with the 1st October referendum, during which he said that the behaviour of the police was proportional. The flood of criticism forced him to correct his statements hours later.
The third conflict broke out over the pact PSC, Ciutadans and PP reached in July 2015 to approve his government program and which planned, among other things, modifying linguistic legislation to make Catalan and Spanish equal as languages of preferred usage in the Paeria. Previously only Catalan had held that status. That agreement ensured Ros stayed in government, but, as has now been seen, meant his definitive political decline.
His friend Josep Borrell, who is from La Pobla de Segur, in the province of Lleida, has helped him avoid the ordeal of an electoral defeat with a golden exile in Andorra.