Barcelona en Comú wants to reclaim working-class neighborhoods

BarcelonaBarcelona en Comú faces the municipal elections of 2027 with the challenge of presenting, for the first time, a candidate other than Ada Colau. Gerardo Pisarello, a deputy in Congress and former first deputy mayor, has taken on this role, after winning the primaries against comedian Bob Pop. But, even before choosing a mayoral candidate, the party's new executive began to outline a strategy to improve the results predicted by polls and present themselves to Barcelonians as an alternative to the PSC. According to sources from the leadership, conveyed to el ARA, this strategy involves regaining presence in the Besòs Axis neighborhoods, where they believe they have room to grow and prevent a vote drain towards the far-right.

The Besòs Axis includes neighborhoods in Sant Andreu, Sant Martí, and Nou Barris and is one of the areas with the most social inequality in the metropolitan area. In 2015, in the three districts, BComú was the most voted force, with close to 30% of the votes, a fact that cleared the way for Colau to the City Council. In 2019, the PSC snatched the bastion of Nou Barris, and in 2023 it also recovered Sant Martí and Sant Andreu, where it garnered just over 20% of the vote. The election of councilor Carol Recio as Pisarello's number 2 allows the mayoral candidate to project himself towards these neighborhoods, beyond having been an internal pillar during the primaries. Recio is deeply rooted in the neighborhood movements of Nou Barris and is a recognized figure in the district.

What does this strategy consist of? BComú wants to pivot its discourse around "precariousness" and the rising cost of living, which they believe punishes Barcelonans and fuels the far right, especially in working-class neighborhoods. Until now, housing had been the first and main banner of the formation, which was born closely linked to the PAH's activity. As Comuns has also done in Parliament, BComú has brought issues such as the prohibition of speculative housing sales or the regulation of seasonal rentals to the negotiating table. Now two more legs will be added: public transport and the shopping basket.

Upon returning from Easter, the party will launch a new campaign under the slogan Republican April

which will include a door-to-door campaign in Eix Besòs, and which they plan to start with an event on April 11th. Before that, the leadership will have presented BComú's new image and a mobilization action plan to the membership in an extraordinary plenary session convened for the 8th.

The unknown of the list

The landing of this new discourse will be done in parallel to the pre-campaign that Pisarello will deploy in the coming months in the city, but without leaving his seat in Madrid. Far from being a drawback, according to BComú sources, this can be a strategic loudspeaker to reach residents who follow state news more closely and who opt for the socialist ballot more for Pedro Sánchez than because Jaume Collboni especially convinces them.

The party admits that the strategy set by the BComú executive will have to be reconciled with Pisarello's profile. The mayoral candidate has defended a broad left-wing front in the city to confront "the reactionary wave", with a round of contacts with PSC, ERC and CUP and social movements. This, however, has not yet materialized into any proposal. Added to this unknown is that of BComú's list for 2027: Pisarello and Recio can choose numbers 3, 4, and 5, although the electoral regulations stipulate that they will do so after a "listening process" within the party on the profiles that should occupy them. From 6 to 15, internal regulations mandate that a new primary process be opened.

Various BComú sources confirm that, at the last plenary session, some militants expressed this concern and were interested in knowing if it is planned to include people who already work in the municipal group or in Bob Pop's candidacy in the positions. This is not the first time this request has come from the base, although, according to the sources consulted, the plenary session took place in a good tone and without internal conflict. It was the first time Pisarello and Recio addressed it, after being elected as candidates with 69% of the support.

A concern that looms in some sectors is that, given the impossibility of forging an electoral alliance with the city's left-wing parties, Pisarello may want to recruit an independent as a formula to try to build the broad front instead of relying on the party's lineup. In any case, sources from the executive assure this newspaper that the debate on the rest of the list will not be addressed until the end of the year.