Barcelona En Comú wants to recover the popular neighborhoods

BarcelonaBarcelona En Comú faces the municipal elections of 2027 with the challenge of presenting, for the first time, a candidate different from 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 Barcelona residents as an alternative to the PSC. According to sources from the leadership, as reported to el ARA, this strategy involves regaining presence in the Eix Besòs neighborhoods, where they believe they have room to grow and prevent a vote defection towards the far right.

The Eix Besòs 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 nearly 30% of the votes, a fact that paved the way for Colau to the City Council. In 2019, the PSC snatched the stronghold of Nou Barris, and in 2023 it also recovered Sant Martí and Sant Andreu, where it garnered a little 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 a pillar internally during the primaries. Recio is deeply rooted in the neighborhood movements of Nou Barris and is a recognized figure in the district.

In what does this strategy consist? BComú wants to pivot its discourse around "precariousness" and the increase in the cost of living, which they believe punishes Barcelona residents and fuels the far-right, especially in working-class neighborhoods. Until now, housing had been the first and main banner of the party, which was born closely linked to the PAH's activity. Just as Comuns has done in Parliament, BComú has put issues such as the prohibition of speculative housing sales or the regulation of seasonal rentals on 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 at an event on April 11. Before that, the leadership will have presented the new image of BComú and a mobilization action plan to the militants at an extraordinary plenary session convened for the 8th.

The unknown of the list

The landing of this new discourse will be carried out in parallel to the pre-campaign that Pisarello will launch 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 neighbors who follow state news more closely and who opt for the socialist ballot more for Pedro Sánchez than because Jaume Collboni particularly 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 advocated for 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 the BComú list for 2027: Pisarello and Recio can choose numbers 3, 4, and 5, although the electoral regulations provide for them to do so after a "listening process" within the party about the profiles that should occupy them. From 6 to 15, internal regulations stipulate that a new primary process be opened.

Various BComú sources confirm that, in the last plenary session, some militants expressed this concern and were interested in knowing if people who already work in the municipal group or in Bob Pop's candidacy are considered for inclusion in the positions. This is not the first time this request has come from the grassroots, although, according to the sources consulted, the plenary session proceeded 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 way to try to build a broad front instead of relying on the party's roster. In any case, sources from the executive assure this newspaper that the debate about the rest of the list will not be addressed until the end of the year.