Alliance already has a candidate in Girona, the first in Catalan capitals

BarcelonaCatalan Alliance has been announcing some of its mayoral candidates in recent weeks. Among the names announced are party leaders from regional capitals, as well as from other municipalities. Just last Monday, Mireia Alomà was presented as the candidate for Mataró. What it has not yet done is reveal who the candidates for the four provincial capitals will be. It was supposed to be done on Sant Jordi's Day, but the party admitted that the candidate planned for Barcelona backed out at the last minute and thiscaused the announcement of the party leaders for Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona to be postponed. In the capital of Gironès, as ARA has been able to learn, the candidate will be Marc Villafañe Valero.

He is a businessman linked to the private medical sector in the province of Girona who acts as sole administrator in thirteen limited companies and as a joint administrator in one. Over the years, Villafañe has been building a group of private clinics and healthcare real estate companies that operate independently with the aim of avoiding legal risks between companies and optimizing business taxes. Some of the companies in this small business group he manages are Clínica Lloret, Diagnóstico por Imagen Sant Feliu, Baix Empordà Mèdic, Palamós Alfamèdic, which offer assistance and various services, or Immobles Centres Mèdics and Magus Immobles, which are dedicated to the rental of medical premises. This conglomerate, which billed 5.7 million euros in 2024, reflects the typical structure of an integrated private healthcare group.

A graduate in Business Administration and Management from the University of Girona (UdG), Villafañe has also completed postgraduate studies in business administration at EAE Business School Barcelona (EAE) and in mechatronic engineering at the University of Vic (UVic). Beyond his business activities, the entrepreneur has now decided to make the leap into politics, where he had not previously been part of any electoral candidacy or party member. Recently, in February, a second Instagram account was created where he presents himself as "a man from Girona, using Catalan good judgment" and as "one more in Catalan Alliance," a phrase commonly used by members of the far-right party. The future Catalan Alliance candidate for Girona, however, has not yet posted anything.

First option

Her name was one of those on the table to lead the list for Girona, although the first option was Gisela Sidera, president of the executive committee of Gironès. This social educator was number 3 for Aliança per Girona in the 2024 Catalan elections on a list headed by the party leader, Sílvia Orriols, who obtained a seat as a deputy. The leadership now proposed her to be the mayoral candidate, but Sidera said she would be part of the candidacy, as she did in the Catalan Parliament elections, but that under no circumstances did she want to lead it so as not to expose herself so publicly, according to party sources. Be that as it may, she has so far been the visible face of Aliança in Girona as the highest responsible for the party in the region.