Marc Puigtió renounces being ERC's mayoral candidate in Girona after the leak of audios

BarcelonaThe until now mayoral candidate of ERC in Girona, Marc Puigtió, has renounced this Thursday to be the republicans' candidate for the city. He renounces it one day after the party leadership opened an informational file on him following the leak of some audios in which he was heard projecting the disposal of the local leadership and the current councilors. Puigtió has justified the decision by "dignity and responsibility" and has acknowledged having made "a serious mistake," for which he assumes the consequences. Now, according to consulted sources from the republicans in Girona, the party will have to re-convene primaries to choose its candidate for mayor of the city. So far, however, they have not set a schedule.

The until now candidate has expressed his concern about the "normalization" of practices such as "recording, editing, and disseminating private conversations". Puigtió insisted that he is stepping aside because "the project" of ERC in Girona is "more important" than himself, and that he did not assume the leadership of the party in the city "to cling" to the position. "I do it with sadness, but with the peace of mind of not looking the other way when things get complicated," he stated. According to consulted sources, Puigtió made the decision this Wednesday after discussing it with his family and subsequently communicated it to the party. For the moment, the politician retains the positions of vice-president of the Consell Comarcal del Gironès and councilor of Sant Julià de Ramis.

The leaked audio

The resignation comes just 24 hours after ERC opened an informational file on Puigtió for the content of a conversation he had with a young man linked to Vox and responsible for an Instagram account that spreads disinformation about the city. In the recording, Puigtió said he wanted to "kick out" the entire party leadership in Girona to take control and be able to use its electoral resources. He also criticized his rival in the primaries, Adam Manyé, and promised to send compromising information about him to his interlocutor in exchange for not spreading data against him, while also expressing the desire to remove the current councilors from the consistory.

The party's ethics commission met on Tuesday afternoon to open the file and "determine, where appropriate, the corresponding responsibilities". Junqueras had endorsed Puigtió's candidacy in the primaries. In a letter sent to the membership, the then Republican candidate admitted that the disseminated conversation included "expressions and proposals that are not adequate", although he did not directly respond to the content of the statements and defended that the audio was a montage with edited fragments of informal conversations from different days.

After the audio was made public, Karim Sabni El Garraf, until then secretary of image and communication and of citizenship of ERC in Girona, announced that he was stepping aside "for coherence", defending that "anti-fascism, republican values and the left do not admit ambiguities".

Puigtió had been chosen as the mayoral candidate almost a year ago in very tense primaries against Manyé, who challenged the process after losing by a single vote. The party's guarantees commission ended up endorsing the result. Once ratified, Puigtió did not have the support of the Girona executive, which favored Manyé, and he pushed for the entry of new members and the procedures for an internal no-confidence vote with the aim of renewing it. In February, the then-current executive resigned en bloc, denouncing "lack of democratic guarantees" and practices "contrary to the party's values".

The leadership will continue

According to consulted sources, the current executive, now aligned with Puigtió, will continue. In a statement, the president of the party's federation in Girona, Pau Presas, assures that they are now opening "a new era" in the city and adds that "when there are mistakes, responsibilities must be assumed." He thanks, in this regard, the step taken by Puigtió. In the same vein, the president of the local section of ERC in the city, Salva Romero, has detailed that they will work to "strengthen the project and regain the necessary trust."

Romero also adds that the objective now is to "build an even broader and more solid proposal" for the municipal elections in May. Regarding the primaries to choose the mayoral candidate, it is still unknown whether the current leadership will want to present a candidate close to the hitherto mayoral candidate – Puigtió had not yet made public the names who would accompany him in his candidacy – or if, on the contrary, someone close to Manyé and the previous executive will present themselves.

Marc Puigtió renounced being the candidate for mayor of Sant Julià de Ramis in 2024 and, since then, began preparing his candidacy for the mayoralty of Girona. During the last few months, he has met with social and economic agents in the city and has gone door-to-door with residents from different neighborhoods in Girona. Puigtió has even campaigned against the current municipal government, of which ERC is a part.