Alianza strengthens its ranks in Berga and recruits an opposition councilor

BarcelonaThe growth predicted by the polls for Aliança Catalana is also translating into a trickle of councilors joining Silvia Orriols' ranks. The latest to do so will be Judit Vinyes, councilor and spokesperson for Berga Grup Independent (BeGI), which debuted in the last elections with two representatives, becoming the fourth largest party, ahead of ERC with 13.40% of the vote. According to information obtained by ARA, at a party assembly held Wednesday night that lasted three hours, Vinyes announced her decision to join the Islamophobic party, but made it clear that she wants to continue leading BeGI because she was the one who launched it. Amidst great tension, the other councilor from the party, Lluís Minoves, who had recently maintained that the party would remain true to its political independence and focused solely on Berga, has decided to become an independent councilor. The leader of this Bergued-based party, which began as a group of voters and became a political party a year ago, wants BeGI to sign a collaboration agreement with the far-right party similar to the one signed with the councilors of Bellpuig Il·lusiona (PUSA), but not all members are in favor of this. However, some members of the candidacy will follow, such as Marina Clusellas, who was number 5, and Sílvia Fresneda, number 10. In Berguedà, Aliança has experienced significant growth since entering Parliament and now has around fifty members.

The husband, a member of Aliança in the Bages-Berguedà regional branch

Vinyes's entry into Aliança was practically a foregone conclusion. Her husband, Xavi López, is a member of the Aliança Catalana Executive Committee in the Bages-Berguedà region, and both attended the Aliança dinner for the central region held last week in Manresa. "They sat at the head table with Oriol Gès and Lluís Arenys, who are part of the party's leadership, and with Imma Nadal, the regional president, which clearly demonstrates their support for Aliança," say sources within the Berguedà branch of the party. In fact, these same sources claim that Vinyes and her husband went to see Gès, Aliança's Secretary of Organization and Finance, and promised him that the party would join Aliança if the party spokesperson were Aliança's candidate in Berga. In this scenario, Gès has reportedly given her approval for Vinyes to head the Aliança candidacy in the upcoming municipal elections. This decision clashes with the plans of the party's core group in the region, who favor Anna de Haro as their mayoral candidate and who point out that Vinyes already offered to be a Junts candidate in the previous elections: "They didn't accept her, so she founded this party." A party she will now transition to in order to finally join Aliança.