Earthquake in Puigcerdá: the first vote of no confidence in a regional capital

What was supposed to be a friendly change of mayor in Puigcerdà has ended with an unexpected vote of no confidence. Junts (4) and Futur (4), an independent party linked to the post-convergent space, reached a government agreement in 2023 to share the mayor's office, but in June the council members informed them that they were breaking off the understanding. Faced with the rupture, ERC (5) presented a vote of no confidence that will be passed this Monday with the support of two Futur councilors, who have decided to support it to avoid paralysis in the Ceretan town. In this way, Junts loses the last regional capital in the Pyrenees it had and ERC regains a mayoralty it has not held since 2011. It will do so with Joan Manel Serra at the helm.

But how did this situation come about? The current mayor, Jordi Gassió, denies that he intended to remain in office (violating the agreement he had with Futur) and that his intention was to call an extraordinary plenary session to make the change effective on July 7. However, his problem was that the Junts members in Puigcerdà did not want to support Armengol as mayor, and consequently, the support of the council members for the change was lacking. The mayor admits: "Both in April and June, we told them that they would not have the mayor's office because my group and a large part of the members did not want their top candidate, Francesc Armengol, to be mayor."

In fact, Junts in Puigcerdà imploded over this issue, to the point that it has now been in the hands of a management team since February. As explained by ARA, the assembly of militants rebelled against Gassió by refusing to elect him again as president of Junts in the city, since they learned that he had a pact cooked up by the national leadership led by Jordi Turull to make Armengol mayor. In fact, the earthquake even led to Gassió's dismissal of a city councilor, Jordi Palomino, for refusing to support him. Loss of trust was his argument.

Misgivings toward Armengol, one of the region's most important businessmen, had existed since the beginning of his term because he tried to be the head of the Junts list and, when he failed to do so, created his own party. "During the campaign, we said we wouldn't make a pact with him because we saw it as a betrayal that divided the vote, but we couldn't reach an understanding with ERC and were forced to make a pact," say local Junts sources. Armengol's refusal to develop the Pedragosa sector because it would involve the construction of a gas station that could compete with him—he is the owner of the Puigcerdà gas station—and the fine he received in October for carrying out works without a permit at his own gas station, further undermined the trust of the council members. Palomino has been one of the most active in the denunciation and also voted in favor of the motion on Monday, but he has not specified whether he will join the government. Armengol lamented in the plenary session that a narrative had been "structured" against him when, he added, it could not be proven "that this is true."

Three-way negotiations

Gassió, seeing the reluctance within Junts to make Armengol mayor, approached Esquerra about his party retaining the mayoralty, as the mayor himself acknowledges. However, this prompted Futur to take action to avoid being left out of the government and ultimately agree to a vote of no confidence with the Republicans. "It's a decision agreed upon by our group," Armengol makes clear, denying any disagreements with his party. Celso Llombart, one of the two Futuro councilors supporting the motion, confirms this: "Armengol has given us freedom, and we are doing this to stop the paralysis with Puigcerdà in mind."

The new mayor of Puigcerdà, the Republican Joan Manel Serra, admits that Gassió has been in contact with his party in recent days, but that each meeting they held "set the bar higher." The Republicans, despite the poor relationship between Junts and Armengol, presented the motion at the last minute to prevent a reconciliation between the judiciary and Futur. "We were afraid they would come to an agreement, and to prevent that, we presented the motion," they said.

With this outcome, the current mayor, Jordi Gassió, makes no secret of the fact that the post-convergent space in Puigcerdà is in ruins. The party, under the control of a management committee, is led by the mayor of Ger and member of Parliament, Alfons Casamajó, imposed by the national leadership and facing total uncertainty two years before the municipal elections, in which he could be the future head of the list. "My political career is over," says a resigned Gassió. Before handing over the mayor's baton, Gassió announced that he is leaving the Ceretà city council.