What and who is behind the Instagram account that is already influencing politics in Girona?

GironaIn less than three months, a supposedly citizen-run Instagram account, claiming no ties to political parties but with an administrator linked to Vox (according to an ARA investigation), has infiltrated and shaped Girona's political agenda. In a city of 107,000 inhabitants, it has already amassed over 25,000 followers—28% of whom are suspected of being fake or bot accounts, according to specialized websites—and, using the username @girona_perduda and the name "Girona no longer makes me fall in love," is channeling public discontent regarding issues linking immigration to crime. It does so through a mix of photos, videos, and data—some accurate, some exaggerated, and others outright disinformation and fake news—presenting a city governed by Lluc Salellas that "has sunk into misery and shame."

The alarmist messages, the communication style, and the proximity to far-right ideologies like those of Vox and Aliança Catalana are a source of concern for the three governing parties in the city, as well as the main opposition party, the PSC, which acknowledges that despite agreeing on the "perception" of the direction Girona has taken, they do not. All of this is happening in a context where Sílvia Orriols' party has surged in the latest barometer from the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO). until tying with Junts as the third force and being the first in the Girona and Lleida districts, where it appeals to voters in the "most neglected" regions.

According to experts consulted by ARA, the Girona Perduda account is yet another example of a "global phenomenon" on social media with a clear objective: to create a climate of distrust towards institutions and public authorities by presenting themselves as non-partisan communities that explain what the media supposedly refuses to explain. "It's a formula we've seen elsewhere, and here the far right uses it with the intention of monopolizing public opinion," explains Jordi Bonet, professor of sociology at the University of Barcelona and an expert on the far right.

Partisan Affiliation

What began as an anonymous account with a founding manifesto in Spanish has moved on to communicating mainly in Catalan and disseminating videos of Sílvia Orriols and her communicative universe. as Arnau Borràs from E-NoticiasHe has become a mouthpiece for the young man who allegedly manages it without ever revealing his name. This is Travis Agustín Gómez Mora, a law student at the University of Girona (UdG) – he hung posters throughout the faculty encouraging students to follow Girona Perduda – who in recent weeks has decided to make himself known by appearing for the first time at the city council meeting, recording himself giving an interview, and opening his personal Instagram profile.

In these public appearances, however, he always omits one thing: his ties to Vox. While he didn't greet the far-right party's municipal spokesperson, Xavier Domínguez, at the November city council meeting, he appears actively participating in videos of two of the party's events this year. The most recent was the Sant Jordi event in Plaça del Vin, He comes out inside the Vox tent after a TikTok video from the member of Parliament and provincial president of Vox in Girona, Alberto TarradasAnd last summer, during a party meal in Castelló d'EmpúriesHe is seen in a video from Empordà Televisió on Facebook recording what appears to be a mobile phone. Promotional video of the Secretary General of VoxIgnacio Garriga.

A connection that, in a reorganization of his communication channels, he has erased from his public profiles in recent weeks. Gómez Mora has secured his LinkedIn profile, where he appeared in a photograph alongside Garriga and Tarradas in Castelló d'Empúries, stating that he had "shared a table with two men who understand politics as a mission, not as a role." He has also closed a YouTube channel where he had... reports of the riots in Salt In March. On Instagram, she has left her name behind, replaced it with the initials TAGM and has become known as @fromgirona.

ARA spoke on Wednesday at midday with Domínguez, the only Vox councilor in Girona, who asserted that he has "no direct connection" with the organizer of Girona Perdida and that he didn't know if the organizer was a party member. "I can't tell you: I know he's sometimes come to the tents, but many more people have come," he explained. He also said he was unaware of receiving any request to speak via Instagram about organizing a demonstration in Girona. All the other parties contacted by this newspaper indicated that they had received requests from Girona Perdida.

Half an hour after this newspaper's call to Vox, and without ARA having contacted Girona Perdida, the Instagram account published an official statement insisting that it is "not 'linked' to any political party," much less "a right-wing party." "It's completely false," he said, adding that the language change from Spanish to Catalan is an "absurd and worn-out debate" because they are "official languages that we all use and understand." He referred directly to the photograph he had until recently on his public LinkedIn profile with Garriga and Tarradas in Castelló d'Empúries, which has not yet been removed from Google's image search. He claims it was taken "more than a year ago," when it was actually an event in June. "Girona Perduda is not a tool of any political party," he insists.

One of the conclusions of the latest barometer from the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO) is that voters for Aliança Catalana and Vox "are becoming increasingly similar," according to the organization's director, Joan Rodríguez Teruel, who spoke last week. In fact, one of the trends highlighted by this latest poll is that voters of Ignacio Garriga's party are increasingly attracted to Sílvia Orriols' party: 70% of Vox supporters approve of the leader of Aliança CatalanaIn this regard, Jordi Borràs, a photojournalist specializing in the far right, explains that "behind the scenes, we are seeing a competition from Vox to retain the votes that are fleeing to Silvia Orriols' party with stronger Islamophobic messages, whether through the use of flags or the Catalan language."

The Power of Videos

This Wednesday, Gómez Mora filmed himself again in Girona's Central Park, under the train tracks, showing the mattress where a homeless person had slept. Along with images of dumpsters, the dissemination of images of people sleeping on the streets and people of color is part of the account's regular content, which presents Lluc Salellas as an antagonist.

For sociologist Jordi Bonet, the emotive use of images explains the phenomenon very well. "The people who spread the information on Instagram aren't necessarily far-right, but largely because the account presents itself as non-partisan," he reflects. "It's the power of images and videos; people give them credibility even if they're taken out of context or are just seconds of a fight before the police arrive." Bonet explains that the content also feeds on itself through the "verisimilitude" of "pseudo-media." The day the manager of Girona Perdida attended the city council meeting, he was interviewed by the online publication. Girona NewsYes, the same thing that released an AI-generated video of Silvia Orriols dressed entirely in black stepping on the corpse of President Carles Puigdemont

In the case of Girona Perduda, the account shared an audio recording of the mayor of Girona, Lluc Salellas, speaking with a citizen while he was in the park with his daughters. The recording of the conversation was unauthorized and was deleted after Salellas filed a complaint with X. The account has also repeatedly spread the claim that the mayor of Girona and his family are building a house in the Montilivi neighborhood, which the mayor categorically denies.

Security, at the center of the debate

The account has so conditioned the political climate in the city that Security has moved to the center of the debatewith Central Park and the railway viaduct as its epicenter. The deputy mayor of Girona and spokesperson for Junts, Gemma Geis, made a video in front of the migrant camp who were near the station to denounce the situation after months of disputes with the Spanish government sub-delegation to get an appointment at the immigration office. The PSC, leader of the opposition, held a rally on Saturday entitled "Girona, Security and Progress" to "denounce the absolutely unsustainable situation that Girona is experiencing under the Salellas and Geis government." Also, the Councilor for Coexistence and Security, Sílvia Aliu, shared a video on Instagram on November 25 in which she denounced a "campaign by the far right and some pseudo-media outlets to spread the idea that Girona is an unsafe city and that this is the fault of immigrants." "We are fed up with hearing lies and we don't want the discourse of fear to spread," she added.

Despite not mentioning Girona Perdida, Gómez Mora refuted all the arguments in his speech with another video and again used data taken out of context: he presented the increase in rape reports across the Girona region as if it were limited to the city of Girona itself. Regarding this matter, Geis told ARA that they will not allow "an Instagram account to dictate the agenda of this city or distort the perception of reality." Party sources offered "a point of self-criticism" and admitted that "they must communicate their positions better, including within the municipal government." how have they done the last month and a half

Sources within Guanyem indicate that they have changed their internal communication methods within the government since this phenomenon emerged, including on social media. This is especially important to address the growing perception of insecurity. During the Girona Fair, where the shantytown area was perceived as a high-risk zone, the community and security point was reinforced with two additional officers, resulting in a 30% decrease in violent robberies. Together with the Municipal Police, they denounced the "false narrative" being spread about the safety of the Fair.

The risk of echo chambers

For Anaïs Varo, professor of political science at the University of Girona, the phenomenon Girona is experiencing is one of "echo chambers in which a series of actors feed off each other." On the one hand, Generation Z on social media, and on the other, a generation boomer "Digitally illiterate" and unashamed to express themselves.

In the case of the PSC and the new ERC leader in Girona, Marc Puigtió—who has no real power in the city council even though the Republicans are part of the tripartite government—they somewhat agree on the city's situation, but not on the response and the destructive message. "It's clear that a city council should be above all this," says Marc Lamuà, also a representative of the Girona Movement and a PSC deputy for Girona in Congress, who asserts that they conduct politics "openly."

However, Varo points out that similar accounts in other cities have helped the opposition gain strength. This is the case in the capital of the Alt Empordà region, where the Figueres Oscura narrative helped Jordi Masquef secure an absolute majority in the last elections, but which, upon reaching the City Hall, became a source of discomfort and he disappeared after an alleged extortion attempt.

Girona Perdida has given a platform to the discourses of opposition figures, who are distancing themselves, as is Carles Ribas, former Junts councilor in the Girona City Council, with a highly critical discourse on social media and who is considering running as a candidate for any party in the next municipal elections.

It is in the trenches of Instagram and TikTok that the politics of the future is being built. Last year, the World Economic Forum identified the main risk for 2026 as... misinformation and the disinformationThese two complementary concepts, which in Catalan we would translate as misinformation or unintentionally false content, and disinformation created with the aim of manipulating, were not included in the ranking of this prestigious, conservative, and neoliberal organization. Street insecurity and voluntary migration, two of the issues currently dominating the public agenda, were nowhere to be found.