The return operation of Ada Colau

BarcelonaAda Colau is willing to take a step forward within the space to the left of the PSOE ahead of the next general elections. According to knowledgeable sources, the former mayor of Barcelona has changed her mind over the last few weeks and, after ignoring the siren calls of her party colleagues on several occasions, she has agreed to start working to promote a broad left-wing front in the State and position herself as one of its main leaders, at a time when the post-Yolanda Díaz left is short on benchmarks.

At this moment, the big question is whether Colau can end up being the presidential candidate for this space. The sources consulted respond that the discussions are not yet at that point and explain that the conversations that may be opened with Podemos will be decisive. Irene Montero made her candidacy for the purple party official a few days ago and showed herself willing to also run in primaries open to the entire space to the left of the PSOE. A turn regarding what Podemos had defended until now —running alone— and which comes after the divorce with Sumar in Congress. Several sources assure that Colau and Montero, unlike other visible faces of the two spaces, have a cordial relationship of mutual respect, which could facilitate negotiations.

Sources close to the founder of the Comuns add that the return of a figure like Colau to institutional politics can boost the rapprochement of forces such as Más Madrid or United Left and Podemos, with whom the relationship has been broken for some time. In fact, the same sources insist that the former mayor's priority is not to lead the space, but to ensure that the forces to the left of the PSOE unite and join them for the next Spanish elections. The intention of the space that Sumar represented in 2023 is to have the name that will lead the candidacy by October at the latest.

During these last few days, the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, and the spokesperson for the Comuns in Congress, Aina Vidal, have been names that have been placed in the pools as possible options to lead a joint candidacy. However, sources consulted admit that both would prefer not to take the step. In parallel, Gabriel Rufián, the spokesperson for ERC in Congress, has launched his proposal for a broad left-wing front in the State and has shown himself willing to lead it. However, the Comuns do not give it credibility because they see the proposal as "ethereal and abstract," in the words of Vidal in an interview with Eldiario.es. Even so, Colau herself publicly stressed before the summer that she could support Rufián to lead a joint candidacy of the left. This possibility, however, is cooling down with each passing day and ERC takes it for granted that the politician from Santa Coloma will once again be their head of the list when Pedro Sánchez calls the elections.

Public appearances

Colau has intensified her agenda in recent days in the media and on social networks. In an interview on the program Cafè d'Idees on Ràdio 4, the former mayor already opened the door to returning to institutional politics if "at any moment it is especially useful to do something specific". "I could consider it again," she added. And, in an interview on the program Cara al Show on La Sexta, she directly confronted the political proposals of the Spanish right, especially against the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. "It makes my blood boil to see these posh people cutting public money and spending it on a penthouse", she said.

This very Wednesday, Colau also published a video on social media lashing out at Spain's coalition government, of which Sumar is a part, over the eviction of Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman who was thrown out of the house in Madrid where she had lived for almost her entire life. Furthermore, the former mayor called for leaving the executive branch led by Pedro Sánchez if it does not fight with "maximum effort" against vulture funds. "It is over. [...] It cannot be that our political space is complicit in the cowardice of the PSOE," remarked the former mayor. This week she also participated in a demonstration in Barcelona to stop another eviction, achieving a viral image that recalled the activist Colau, when she was the face of the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages.

For those who have known her throughout her political career, it is no secret that Colau has always shown interest in state politics—much more than in Catalan politics—if one day she decided to do battle beyond Barcelona. When she left the mayoralty in 2023, she took a step back from her institutional involvement—she ended up giving up her seat on the Barcelona City Council a year later— and began a period of disconnection from partisan politics. But for months now, numerous sources have been pointing out that she has returned. And Operation Colau is underway.