Gunmanship, marijuana and murders: Junts steps on the gas against insecurity in Barcelona

BarcelonaJunts' primaries in Barcelona are not only serving to dispute the legacy of former mayor Xavier Trias – who has given explicit support to municipal leader Jordi Martí – but have also consolidated Carles Puigdemont's party to put the pedal to the metal against insecurity in Barcelona. This was evident in the four-way debate on the last day of the primaries campaign, in which topics such as daylight murders, drug trafficking like marijuana, and dirtiness resulting from incivility and drunken tourism were discussed. This weekend, the party's Barcelona militants will decide the mayoral candidate between Jordi Martí, Congresswoman Pilar Calvo – close to the national leadership –, MP and Parliament's table secretary Glòria Freixa – a pragmatic liberal –, and former MP and Puigdemont's former lawyer, Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas.

"Barcelona smells of marijuana in many places and gun violence cannot be tolerated," Cuevillas stated, mixing drug trafficking and insecurity. "With a death in broad daylight on Balmes street, this is no longer just talk. Living in our country is free," Freixa lamented in turn, who sees the city in a "very serious" situation. Here Martí has pledged to personally take on "political leadership" of the Guàrdia Urbana to improve security in all neighborhoods, not just above Diagonal: "Daylight murders are not only on Balmes street, Glòria, but also in La Marina in the Zona Franca," he pointed out.

Calvo focused on highlighting the work done by her group in Madrid, and emphasized the need to implement the law against repeat offending. She lamented the "fear" felt by citizens and repeatedly attacked the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, for not expelling enough foreigners who commit crimes: "Minister Marlaska has the lowest expulsion rate," she asserted.

With a similar national commitment – although Cuevillas has been encouraged by saying that as future mayor he plans to greet Puigdemont as "president of the Republic" – housing has brought together another of the many consensuses among the candidates. All of them have shown themselves to be against excessive regulation, such as the 30% reserve for protected housing or price limits, and in favor of "public-private" collaboration with strong investment from the City Council. Calvo has even asked to copy Sant Cugat, which has extended the minimum number of years of registration to ten to access protected housing. Freixa has spoken of a minimum of five years of registration for foreigners to be able to buy an apartment.

In the area of tourism, all have prioritized family, cultural, and congress tourism, and have censured "drunken tourism" and have called for regulating cruises. An agreement similar to that of promoting the Catalan language, in which all have shown a firm commitment to enhancing its use, starting with the example of institutions.

Trias's legacy

asked to avoid in an interview with ARAIt has been a duel between four candidates who hold similar opinions –all from Sarrià-Sant Gervasi–, which has been heating up in recent days due to the support – especially internal – of part of the leadership for Calvo and also from personalities close to Carles Puigdemont, such as his lawyer, Gonzalo Boye. Her efforts to reduce competition, however, have failed, and the attempt to win over Freixa has not been successful. Nor have the attempts by part of the leadership to convince Cuevillas to abandon the race succeeded –as he himself has revealed.

Once the options from outside the party failed, Puigdemont's favorite was the national spokesperson, Josep Rius, who withdrew from the race when Martí made public his desire for primaries. The leadership was reluctant, but eventually accepted that it could not impose a candidate against the will of the membership. Voices such as former president Artur Mas, also a former councilor, have preferred to remain on the sidelines and not support any candidate, according to informed sources. But what is evident is that, beyond Barcelona, these primaries will have national implications. If the candidate closest to the leadership is Calvo, what will happen if she doesn't win? Internally, they will shy away from a possible interpretation that Cuevillas asked to avoid in an interview with ARA: will it have been a plebiscite on Puigdemont?