Confirmed: the current leader of the anti-independence Ciudadanos (Cs) party in Catalonia's Parliament, Inés Arrimadas, is to swap the Catalan chamber for a place in Madrid's Congress. After many rumours, she made it formal this Saturday at a campaign event in Madrid alongside party president, Albert Rivera, where she explained that she will stand as the head of the party's list to represent Barcelona province in the Spanish capital.
Arrimadas will thus take over from the current head of the Cs list for Barcelona and party spokesperson in the Congress, Juan Carlos Girauta, who in the 28th April Spanish election will stand on the list for Toledo.
🇪🇸🍊 @InesArrimadas acaba de anunciar su candidatura a las primarias para ser primera de lista por Barcelona en las #EleccionesGenerales.
— Ciudadanos 🇪🇸🇪🇺 (@CiudadanosCs) 23 de febrer de 2019
📽 "Me voy a dejar la piel para que @Albert_Rivera sea presidente del Gobierno de España" #GraciasInés pic.twitter.com/UovAopuLCE
Arrimadas justified the decision saying that "liberty and social harmony will only come to Catalonia if Cuidadanos govern in Madrid" and she has asserted that she will continue "to defend the silenced, humiliated and mistreated Catalan constitutionalists." "It would be poetic justice if Rivera, a Catalan, became the next president of Spain," she said. "I'm going to give everything I've got to make that happen."
Arrimadas gave the news in a speech in which, as on many previous occasions, she berated the independence movement, saying that it was "out of control" and "takes over the streets violently whenever it wants". "The moment has come to remove Pedro Sánchez from the prime minister's seat, and Quim Torra and the separatists from the government of Spain," she said, declaring that four more years of the current government would mean a "black future for Spanish democrats".
Last November, El Nacional had already broken the news that Inés Arrimadas's husband, Xavier Cima, had moved his professional activity to Madrid. This gave fuel to the rumours that Arrimadas, spokesperson for the Cs national executive, would make the definitive jump to Madrid, which has finally been confirmed this Saturday.
Who'll fill the shoes of Inés?
The ACN agency reports that Inés Arrimadas's place in the Catalan Parliament is to be taken by current deputy Lorena Roldán. The current Cs number two in the Catalan chamber, Carlos Carrizosa, is expected to continue in his current position.