Gerardo Pisarello, the ideologue whom Ada Colau sponsors

BarcelonaIn his office at the Congress, Gerard Pisarello keeps three objects: a photograph of Frederica Montseny, an anarchist minister of the Second Republic; a portrait of Pi i Margall, Catalan president of the First Republic; and a Barcelona flag. These three symbols represent the values ​​with which the now-Congressman and former right-hand man of Ada Colau in the City Council identifies: grassroots left-wing movements, republicanism, and municipalism. The former deputy mayor of Barcelona is now taking the step to become a candidate for Barcelona en Comú in 2027 after several voices from space asked him to, when no one could yet foresee that they would end up testing each other's strength in a primary election with the writer and comedian Bob Pop. At the official launch of the candidacyOrganized hastily when the party realized it would have to fight for the mayoral nomination, Pisarello appeared flanked by Colau and Ernest Urtasun. A message that made it clear he is the official candidate of the party leadership.

Pisarello is part of the founding core of BComú closest to the pro-independence movements. The politician, born in Tucumán, Argentina, in 1970, came to Spain to pursue a doctorate in law in Madrid, and from there he landed as a professor of constitutional law in Barcelona, ​​where he built his entire career. In his native country, he left behind a story that marked his personal and political trajectory: his father, a lawyer and human rights defender, was kidnapped and murdered by the Videla dictatorship. He has also been living for just over a year with another significant loss in his life: that of his partner, Vanesa Valiño, an activist with the Comuns party, who died in November 2024. His colleagues describe him as a "reflective" person, devoted to books—which permeate his writing and his narrative. Pisarello, a lover of Catalan popular culture and theater, is also passionate about writing—this spring he will publish his first novel, about travel, grief, and political friendship—and about Europe's top football team. He's also a fan of Barça, when, as he notes, paraphrasing Vázquez Montalbán, "it acts as the unarmed army of a country without an army." In an interview with Clarín in 2019However, he also proclaimed himself a supporter of Atlético de Madrid.

What does Pisarello propose now for Barcelona in 2027? In short: to accompany social movements in a new awakening, like that of 2008, at a time when social unrest has yet to fully erupt despite the threat of the far right. And he wants to do so by defending broad left-wing fronts, a thesis he has always championed, both privately and publicly. Pisarello, a friend of José Luis Zapatero and Joan Tardà, is not new blood, but he brings "the experience" that BComú lacked when it came to power in Barcelona in 2015, and he is emerging as a candidate who wants to move forward. the legacy of the first ten years of BComú to the new generations. If she wins the primaries, her "priority" will be Barcelona. And that means, her team acknowledges, that her responsibilities in Madrid will have to be reorganized so she can be more present in the city.

Carol Recio, from Nou Barris in the City Council

The BComú primaries aren't just about the lead candidate: they're about a tandem where the number two, if the candidate is male, must be a woman. Joining Pisarello on this journey is Carol Recio, a PhD in sociology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and a resident of Prosperidad involved in social movements. She has experience as Gemma Tarafa's right-hand woman in the City Council, in the Department of Social Services, where she stood out for proposals like the public dentist program and for her "technical" and organizational skills, as a fellow party member puts it. "She embodies the spirit of BComú like no other. She's approachable and maintains ties with her neighborhood," he adds. She visits the public high school she attended in Nou Barris whenever she can.