The priest's assistant who will face Silvia Orriols in 2027

BarcelonaThe Junts municipal group in Ripoll announced on Tuesday that it was withdrawing from the motion of censure against the mayor Sílvia Orriols. Surprisingly, neither the leader of the group, Montsina Llimós, nor the spokesperson and candidate for mayor in the negotiations, Maria Soldevila, made it public, but rather the third councillor of the formation, Ferran Raigon (Ripoll, 2003). The press conference was called with only two hours' notice and they asked this young councillor, who turned 22 on 9 February, if he wanted to speak. "I said yes, but I recognise that it was all quite hasty."

According to several sources, the decision was influenced by the fact that Raigon could lead the list of the junteros in 2027. "Nothing has been confirmed. They haven't even suggested it to me directly, but I would be amused," says the now councillor. It would be a meteoric career after agreeing to go on the 2023 lists as number 4 and enter the City Council due to the resignation of a colleague. But the life of this fourth-year history student at the UdG could have taken a totally different path: specifically, that of a priest.

And that's despite not taking communion until ESO and confirmation until a couple of years ago: "I didn't do it when it was time because when I was little I didn't go that way, but when I was older I got the bug and, as I had a good relationship with the parish, I became an altar boy." His work as a priest's assistant lasted from 2017 to 2022 and now he still helps him. During that time, the councillor explains that he considered becoming a priest when the parish priest suggested it to him: "It wasn't a firm thought, but it was on my mind, I thought about it."

Although he continues to go to mass on Sundays, where he claims that Sílvia Orriols is rarely seen, in the end, he has decided on politics: "I think I can be useful." With Aliança Catalana as the first force and with polls that predict even better results for them in 2027, he is aware that he is not landing at the best time: "It was easier before with Jordi Munell, but if you have political convictions you have to get ahead." After coinciding with Orriols in the giant group and in the plenary sessions, in two years they could be rivals at the polls.