More leaks from the Barcelona People's Party: Juan Milián loses his deputy, who is heading to the Senate.

BarcelonaThe battle within the PP in Barcelona has not ceased and, in fact, has gone "further," as previously reported by ARA. Thus, new movements emerged amid tensions between the party's leader in the city, Daniel Sirera, who is the closest confidant of the state leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and multiple local officials, also within the municipal group. Following the resignation of councilor Àngels Esteller, which caused widespread discontent among Sirera's numerous detractors, a key figure in Barcelona and the Catalan structure is now leaving the municipal group. This is Juan Milián, as reported by Nación and confirmed by ARA. His resignation is finalized because he will go to the Senate, replacing Lorena Roldán for the regional-appointed senator position, which will land at the Parliament next Tuesday. The decision is prompted by the internal demand he has received and the positive opinion he receives within the state leadership, according to multiple sources consulted. But the strong tension within the municipal group and the fact that he found himself in the middle of the conflict between Sirera and Barcelona officials close to former councilor Alberto Fernández, as well as the provincial leadership, cannot be ignored. The internal unrest was and is palpable, as ARA has confirmed, and the internal Barcelona war had caused more than a few headaches for Milián, who will leave the Barcelona city council, according to this newspaper.

Multiple sources confirm that Milián, who until now has been the spokesperson on the council, was "excluded" from the decisions and day-to-day municipal work, which was controlled by Sirera and his close associates. Proof of the compromises Milián had to make is a particularly painful resignation for him, which he agreed to in order to avoid conflict, according to knowledgeable sources. He already saw how things became more complicated when he had to resign as president of the Les Corts district council to be replaced by councilor Sonia Devesa, a close confidant of Milián. The real reason, according to various sources, was to level the salaries of the municipal group, although Milián is a true Corts resident, while Devesa is from the Eixample.

Leaks in the middle of the war

Milián's resignation is yet another departure from Sirera, a leader who is racked with internal problems, but it's also a blow to the Catalan PP's waterline. Milián is not just any ordinary person in the party in Catalonia; he is the coordinator of political action. He is a member of the regional leadership who maintains close political ties with the Catalan leader, Alejandro Fernández, with whom he shares the economic liberal line. Not surprisingly, it was he who developed Fernández's concept of the "Spanish Process," which would be the Spanish counterpart to the political crisis of the independence movement last decade. This also highlights Sirera's tensions not only with Barcelona officials and those close to former councilor Alberto Fernández Díaz, like Esteller, but also with members of the "liberal" sector of the party, which includes Milián and Fernández. However, Milián, also a former MP and nephew of PP founder Manuel Milián Mestre, comes from a more Catalanist persuasion, unlike the Catalan leader's classic Spanish nationalism.

With this change of pace, the Catalan leadership has given Milián a way out in Madrid, where he is highly regarded for his intellectual and ideological work within the PP, the FAES Foundation—founded by Aznar—and some contributions to Reformismo 21, sponsored by Feijóo. Well-placed as a senator, his sphere of influence could reach the offices of Génova, where Feijóo decides everything. In fact, the former councilor was already honored by the Galician leader at the party's July congress, when he was appointed a member of the state board of directors. This moment also confirmed Feijóo's love affair with Sirera, whom he named speaker at the congress and incorporated into the executive committee, a body one level higher, second only to the steering committee, which is the core of the leadership.