"Today there are no ministers or guardian angel": Bob Pop challenges Pisarello to be the mayoral candidate for Comuns
The writer promises to knock on the doors of "1,000 houses" in Barcelona to "listen to the people" if he manages to become a candidate.
BarcelonaThe spotlights come on and Bob Pop takes the stage at the Barceloneta Civic Center, in front of about a hundred people who have come to hear why he wants to be mayor of Barcelona. The writer and comedian introduces himself: he wants to win the mayoral office of the Catalan capital, and that's "neither a joke nor a prank." Behind him, on a screen, his campaign poster from the Barcelona En Comú primaries is projected: "Bob Pop for mayor of Barcelona. Why not?" But, immediately afterward, the screen displays a photo from the official launch of his rival Gerardo Pisarello's candidacy. surrounded by the heavyweights of Comuns, from Ada Colau to the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun“There are no ministers today, they won’t be coming. There’s no fairy godmother either. This coronation is rubbish compared to the official candidate’s, but at least you all are here,” Bob Pop says in the auditorium. And he adds, looking at the photo of Pisarello with the top figures of Comuns and other members of the party: “People’s faces aren’t exactly beaming with enthusiasm either.”
Generating enthusiasm without the support of the party leadership is precisely the strategy Bob Pop wants to use to try and succeed former mayor Ada Colau as the candidate for the 2027 municipal elections. At Saturday’s event, which kicks off his campaign, he has been a member of Comuns from the beginning, supporting Colau at her rallies, and his team includes veterans of the party, such as former Comuns deputy Enric Bárcena, and district councilors Mar Trallero, Víctor Vela, and Pablo Ramos –members, in turn, of the non-official candidacy for the BComú executive–. They all supported him from the stage, wearing a badge on their t-shirt with the slogan "Bob Pop 2027", which even has a tote bag In keeping with the theme.
Bob Pop has also rejected the "resignation" in which he believes the left is immersed: "We have to be able to win. I don't want to make pacts just for the sake of it. I want to have the possibility of forming a government with the people," he asserted, while some members of the political space still struggle to move beyond the "ideological purity" of the left and be "realistic" in explaining to people what to do and what not to do from within the institutions. Beyond the BComú officials who have been involved in Bob Pop's candidacy, there have been some notable presences in the audience, such as former congressional candidate Rosa Lluch and former ICV deputy Laia Ortiz.
Focused on housing
Housing was a central theme in the writer and humorist's speech, in which he expressed support for measures such as increasing property taxes on vacant apartments or allowing the subdivision of large apartments to convert them into social housing. Some of Pisarello's initial proposals also address the housing crisis: for example, launching an emergency plan to address homelessness, with 350 available positions. The official BComú candidate emphasizes his "experience" to Bob Pop, whom he has invited to join his ticket.
The choice of Barceloneta to kick off Bob Pop's campaign was not accidental, sources from his team explained to ARA. The writer wanted to start in the "ground zero" of gentrification in Barcelona, a phenomenon he also claims to experience as a resident of the Born district. The comedian has also linked it to the "difficulty" of speaking Catalan on the street in this neighborhood, one of the most touristy in the center of Barcelona. However, Bob Pop—originally from Madrid—has defended the "bilingual" Barcelona, which speaks (and which he believes should be addressed) both Catalan and Spanish, the two languages in which he delivered a speech in which he also used inclusive language: "The important thing about the campaign is to talk to a lot of people. It's a commitment I'm making."
The enigma of the tandem
There is still no official schedule for the Barcelona En Comú primaries. The party's coordinator is expected to approve it this Monday, when the details of the process will be made public. At that point, both Pisarello and Bob Pop will have to register their candidacies and announce their running mate. According to the party statutes, the number two candidate on their list must be a woman, and so far neither has revealed who that will be. "I've already decided on the name," the writer said when journalists asked him. This question was repeated during the event, during the audience question time.
The rally ended with a surprise: on each chair was an envelope containing a piece of cardboard. This envelope, Bob Pop explained, has two purposes: first, for people who felt their jobs might be "at risk" for attending the event to use it to cover their faces in the group photo—a dig at the pressure, according to some sources, that the establishment is exerting to try and prevent the primaries from tearing the party apart. A couple of signs popped up with the first flash. The envelope's second purpose was to select two people whom Bob Pop has invited to accompany him on his door-to-door campaign, visiting "1,000 homes" if he's chosen as the candidate. These are the people who found a blue sign inside the envelope. Seeing the public's excitement with this game, Bob Pop promised "cabaret-style rallies," "bingo games," and "raffles" to spice up the campaign.
