Lluc Salellas will re-present himself as candidate for mayor of Girona in 2027

GironaThis Saturday morning, during an informal get-together with Guanyem activists, the mayor of Girona, Lluc Salellas, announced that he will run again as a mayoral candidate for the City Council. Initially, Salellas intended not to run again as a candidate, as he explained in his first interview with ARA as mayor, but in recent months the possibility of his continuation at the head of the cross-party left-wing formation that integrates the CUP has gained traction. The decision arises from a proposal by the activists, who consider him the best option to try to regain the mayoralty and to be able to continue the current government's work from the highest executive responsibility. Salellas is the formation's greatest asset, especially after the number two in the last election, Cristina Andreu, who was a pillar, resigned at the beginning of the term for health reasons.

"The city needs more years of Guanyem government to continue with the transformations already underway, especially in areas such as housing and urban transformation, but also in the social and public services sphere. Changes take time," the mayor remarked. Salellas also highlighted the "work done" by the municipal government's tripartite coalition, formed together with Junts and Esquerra, and acknowledged that this three-way pact is "reproducible" for 2027.

The 2027 elections will be Lluc Salellas's fourth consecutive municipal election as an elected councilor, as he is a CUP activist. In 2023, he was able to run thanks to an exception in the statutes of the anti-capitalists, as these did not allow more than two consecutive terms. Now, it will therefore be the second time he avails himself of this exception provided for in the party's internal regulations, and the decision has the endorsement of the CUP's national leadership, as, for example, Non Casadevall, the formation's general secretary, was present at the event on Saturday to show his support.

Continuity in Junts and change of cycle in EsquerraSalellas was the candidate who was yet to be confirmed from the three parties currently governing the city. Deputy Mayor Gemma Geis, from Junts, will also repeat with the endorsement of the membership. It is with her that the mayor has had the most friction during the term, caused by the logical differences between the radical left and the heirs of the post-convergent space, especially on issues of security, immigration and the management of bicycle tourism. These frictions, while never endangering the real continuity of the tripartite government, have intensified in recent weeks as the campaign approaches. "I only contemplate being mayor of Girona; Lluc Salellas has already had his chance," Geis said this week on Girona FM. The Junts candidate wants to establish her own profile and raise the tone on burning issues, especially in the face of the more than probable advance of the far-right Aliança Catalana.

Esquerra is immersed in internal struggles and will present Marc Puigtió. He is the candidate resulting from the battle of factions between the continuity sector of the current deputy mayor Quim Ayats and the new platform Moviment Gironí, presented by Puigtió, former mayor of Sant Julià de Ramis. The transition has been extremely turbulent, with challenges to primaries, block resignations from the board, and accusations of fraud. After this earthquake, Puigtió aims to improve on Ayats' results, who obtained three councilors in a position that has always been difficult for the Republicans.

The unknown of the PSC and Aliança

In the opposition, the big unknown is the PSC. The 2023 candidate, Sílvia Paneque, now in the government of the Generalitat of Catalunya, immersed in the management of the Rodalies crisis, is in all the predictions. She does a lot of political agenda in Girona and its surroundings and her name often appears as the target of criticism and reproach from the municipal government. But Paneque assures that she has not yet made the final decision, nor has she set a deadline to announce it. According to sources from ARA, in the Palau de la Generalitat they are clear that she will leave her post to aim for victory in Girona, but, if the minister finally does not take the step, the socialists' alternatives would be Beatriz Esporrín, current head of the opposition in the City Council, the congressman Marc Lamuà, or the deputy delegate of the Spanish government in Girona, Pere Parramon.

It is also a mystery what role Aliança Catalana will play. The party has no representation in the City Council and, for the moment, there is no name in the predictions that sounds like a possible candidate for the ultra formation. Carles Ribas, who on social media is very tough against the current government and in 2023 ran sharing electoral rights with Junts, has ruled himself out of the casting. That said, the former councilor has announced that he wants to run again, although he has not yet detailed whether he will do so under his party, which did not enter the consistory, or by integrating into Junts or the PSC. Vox and the PP, for their part, with one councilor each and with remote chances of entering into a government pact, have also not officially announced their candidates.