Rull, Turull and Borrull: Junts's new trident

BarcelonaJosep Rull and Jordi Turull are two of Junts' strongmen. Former political prisoners, the first is president of the Parliament, the country's second institution, and the second is the party's general secretary, second only to president Carles Puigdemont in the hierarchy of Junts members. To the Rull-Turull duo, Borrull is now added, in a wordplay in the form of a paronomasia, at least, curious. Specifically, Toni Borrull, Junts' candidate in Matadepera. He could be the future mayor of this Vallesà municipality for the next four years. And all three have played a key role in the reunification of the post-convergence space after losing the previous elections in a town where they had governed since 2007.

The struggle to designate the candidate led to Junts breaking up in 2023. The then mayor, Junts member Nil López, founded a new party, Suma't Matadepera – linked to Ara Pacte Local, the brand of the former PDECat – angry at the leadership's decision to appoint Marcel·lí Bosch as candidate. Although Junts members obtained four councilors and Suma't, three, and could have had an absolute majority in a council with thirteen councilors, the latter voted for López and Junts withdrew their candidacy. The result was that the independent party that won the elections with five councilors, Som-hi Matadepera, achieved the mayoralty, with the support also of the ERC councilor.

With the lesson well learned, Junts and Suma't decided last July to join forces and run together in the elections with the aim of regaining the mayoralty in the second municipality with the highest per capita income in all of Catalonia, with 34,766 euros, only behind Alella. They ratified the agreement in an event with several former mayors from this space. Rull and Turull were also present, which demonstrated the political weight of the meeting. Both have rolled up their sleeves to make reconciliation possible. "I attend many events, but it's a pleasure to be at this one, because it connects many things," said Turull. "We could have saved ourselves this event and the separation," added Rull in turn, who was convinced of the new formation's victory: "Invite me to the inauguration of the next mayor, because he will be from Junts + Suma’t Matadepera".

Although it was not officially confirmed, when the alliance was signed, everything indicated that Nil López would now lead this unitary list, but in the end, the one chosen unanimously has been Toni Borrull. Why? "Nil has a job now that makes it difficult for him to reconcile the two things and he also believes that his time has passed and that new faces without baggage are needed," says the mayoral candidate, who makes it clear that the former candidate of Suma't, who was also at the event where the reunification was sealed, continues to help the new formation. In fact, the relationship between the two is very close because Borrull was a sympathizer of Suma't and has been working hand in hand with López for three years. "I have always liked to be behind the scenes, backstage," he admits.

"I didn't expect to be the candidate"

Now, this is over and reveals that he did not expect to be the candidate. "If they had told me a few months ago, I would have answered that they had the wrong person because I had never been in the political front line," points out Borrull, who was born in Barcelona in 1967, but has lived in Matadepera since 2002, where he is deeply rooted in the associative fabric. He makes the leap into politics with a consolidated professional career as commercial director of the textile company from Terrassa, Manufacturas Nylma, and after being general director of operations at Wall Street Institute and working in advertising at the CBS chain of the Paramount group.

The reunification of this space has also been a complicated undertaking: "It has been difficult because one and the other had said many things to each other, but it has been done in an orderly manner thinking about the people, putting egos aside because the natural step was to be all together," he says. Thus, according to sources from both groups, the people who dynamited the relationship "are no longer part of the project." It remains to be seen if any of them will try their luck with Aliança, which was presented in the municipality on May 21, with the presence of the former number 2 of Junts, who left the party and became a non-attached councilor, entering the government as the fourth deputy mayor.

Borrull also highlights the role of Turull and Rull in reconciliation: "They have been decisive and on June 18 they will be at the presentation event of my candidacy." That day, surely they will joke with him again about the similarity of the three surnames. "From the first day they joke with me a lot," he admits, laughing. In any case, he prefers not to talk about a trident: "They are two heavyweights of politics and I am still with the instruction manual," he adds ironically.