The far right makes its move in Manresa: Sergi Perramon presents his new party

BarcelonaNationalist Advance. This is the name of the new party that Sergi Perramon, a councilor from the Nationalist Group, presented this afternoon at the El Voilà Café-Theater in anticipation of the upcoming municipal elections. The councilor, who distanced himself from the National Front of Catalonia (FNC) a year after the elections, asserts that he wants to create a "center-right" platform to become the leading force or at least be able to form a government. Shunning party labels and remaining unbranded, Perramon aims to form a grand coalition with Aliança Catalana, Junts, or Impulsem, but one that will not involve any absorption. The fundamental debate, however, will be whether this new party operates under the umbrella of these existing formations. "We must be generous," the spokesperson repeatedly emphasizes, noting that the political space he represents is currently "too fragmented" to aspire to unseat ERC. It's no surprise that up to three lists could be presented if there's no agreement between Avenç, Aliança, and the FNC, which, taking advantage of its electoral rights, could also put up a fight. The capital of the Bages region is one of the strongholds of the far right. In the last elections to the Catalan Parliament, Aliança and Vox together garnered 16% of the vote.

"Manresa needs to change course, and 2027 is the decisive opportunity. This platform we're proposing today aims to be the meeting point for all those who want a more prosperous, safer, more Catalan Manresa," Perramon stated this Thursday. For this reason, he called for a broader perspective from the other parties. "We don't want a city at the service of external interests, nor do we want parties to continue using the municipality as a mere pretext to increase the power of their party labels," he added, speaking to sixty people. With 20.59% of the population being immigrants, the new leader of Nationalist Advance has emphasized the need to regulate the arrival of people from other countries. "The only way to maintain social cohesion, safeguard the welfare state, and ensure integration into the national culture is to limit migratory flows," he stated. "If there are speed limits, pollution limits, or heritage protection limits, couldn't such an uncontrolled phenomenon be limited?" he added. And he concluded: "We don't want the Manresa of 100,000 inhabitants; we cannot become the backyard of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) or the Ministry of Social Affairs of other countries."

The far right had never been so strong in Manresa. While it's true that Plataforma per Catalunya had already won one council seat in 2007 (1,539 votes) and two in 2011 (2,391), in the last elections the National Front of Catalonia (FNC) debuted with two seats (1,618) and Vox with one (1,537), a combined total of 6% support. And in the Catalan elections, the figure skyrocketed even further. Aliança Catalana became the fourth largest party with 2,812 votes and 9.4% support, while Vox came in just behind with 2,002 votes and 6.7% support. Together, these two parties garnered 16% of the electorate's support.