Manuel Bustos's right hand enters Aliança Catalana

BarcelonaOn February 5, 2015, Lluís Monge was the only socialist councilor accompanying former mayor of Sabadell Manuel Bustos to court. The former mayor had to testify in the case of watches allegedly given as gifts to members of the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia (FMC) when he chaired the entity, as part of the Mercuri case. Upon leaving, Monge also acted as Bustos' spokesperson to deny that the money came from training courses and to justify the institutional gifts. That was one of the pieces of a procedure that ended upsentencing Bustos to three years in prison in 2022.

Faced with the opposition's attacks on the government for Monge's presence in court, the then socialist mayor, Joan Carles Sánchez, tried to downplay the controversy as best he could: "Mr. Monge fulfills his obligations at the town hall, but in his free time he can dedicate himself to other things, such as accompanying a party colleague." Years later, Monge justified in an interview with "Nació Digital" why he supported him: "When someone is in trouble, and he was in a lot of trouble, you can't leave them alone. That's why I accompanied him to testify in court, when nobody wanted to accompany him. I wasn't the first choice, but I went, even though I knew it would mark me for life."

His controversial presence in court has not cost him anything when it comes to joining Aliança Catalana, where he became a member last July, as ARA has learned, without any obstacles. His extensive experience as a councilor has allowed him to find a place in Sílvia Orriols' party, which is looking for experienced people, regardless of their background. And Monge presents a service record that is difficult for any party leader to surpass. He was a PSC councilor in Barberà from 1987 to 2003, where he held all council positions except Urbanism and Local Police, and in Sabadell between 2007 and 2015 after Bustos directly recruited him to first hold some technical positions and then to be appointed deputy mayor.

Despite arguing that the Mercuri case is "more of the PP than the PSC because the one who was making money was the popular spokesperson, Jordi Soriano", Aliança Catalana has opened its doors wide open to him. Thus, beyond participating in the informative stands that the party holds in Sabadell, the leadership has placed him in an organic position by appointing him responsible for plenary sessions in Vallès Occidental, according to sources from this party confirmed to ARA. He is in charge of coordinating the plenary sessions where the party has no presence through local representatives.

He will not be the candidate for Sabadell

Be that as it may, Monge will not lead the Alliance list in Sabadell. But another former socialist militant will. Party sources take it for granted that Joana Berrio will be the mayoral candidate. And like Monge, she was also from the bustista sector at the time. When the PSC leadership dissolved the local executive in December 2015, once the former mayor's imprisonment was confirmed and an interim management committee was appointed to rebuild the party, Berrio sided with the bustistas.

Thus, in the assembly of militants that was convened to appoint the delegates of the group to the PSC congress of Catalonia in 2016, Berrio was part of the sector led by Monge who refused to accept the delegates proposed by the board. Both have a close relationship and Berrio joined the party in August 2025, just one month after Monge did.

In fact, the presumed mayoral candidate is a civil servant in the Sabadell City Council, where she works as an administrative assistant, but she requested a transfer that was not granted so she could move to the Castellar del Vallès City Council, where Monge now resides. Berrio's profile is particularly liked by the leadership for her Zionism. Berrio, president of the Sabadell-Israel Cultural Association (ACSI), was in charge of issuing the party's statement at the end of January, in which she attacked the mayor, Marta Farrés, for not condemning the Hamas attack or for having the Palestinian flag on the City Council's facade.

The candidate from Terrassa

In Terrassa, the other co-capital of Vallès Occidental, the candidate will be Agustí Devant. This Terrassa businessman manages Fhort Textile Tech, a company specialized in textile technologies and talent management, and the company Elitse Andevi, dedicated to psychology services, coaching and emotional well-being, after being the co-founder and CEO of the startup Skiverse, with his brother Salvador, which digitized the offer of ski resorts, hotels and ski passes for travel agencies.

With more than 25 years of experience in entrepreneurship, business management, and operational transformation and organizational development projects, Devant also gives lectures for employers' associations such as Foment or Unió Empresarial de l'Anoia. With no prior affiliation with any party, he is now making the leap into politics to try to get Aliança into the country's fourth city. Devant and Berrio were already at the presentation event of Aliança last Thursday in Matadepera and were seated in the front row, which is always reserved for the party's executive and officials.