The leader of the National Rally (RN), Marine Le Pen, He made no comment on the election results on Sunday night.Only the party president, Jordan Bardella, spoke—very briefly—to celebrate the increase in the number of mayoralties. "It's the biggest gain" in the party's history. "Never before have the RN and its allies held so many elected positions in France," stated Bardella, the party's future presidential candidate if the courts uphold Le Pen's disqualification. Despite his words, neither Bardella's lackluster tone, nor Le Pen's silence, nor the overall atmosphere suggested a night of electoral victory. While the advance of the far right is undeniable, especially in the southeast of the country, the situation remains somewhat different. (Northern Catalonia and Occitania are the new fiefdoms of the RN) And in some northern areas, the majority of the municipalities it has won are in rural areas, in towns or small cities. National Rally only managed to win in one city with more than 100,000 inhabitants, Perpignan, where it already governed. And it secured Nice, where Éric Ciotti, leader of the UDR (Union of the Right), Le Pen's ally, won.

The far right is not making as much progress as it would like across France, but it is gaining new municipalities and strengthening its position in Northern Catalonia. National Rally (RN), Marine Le Pen's party, already secured the mayorship of Perpignan a week ago with an absolute majority in the first round, and this Sunday it won in the second round of the municipal elections In Ribesaltes and Cañoses, in Roussillon. The far-right politician Steve Fortel also won in Elna, and Gilles Foxonet, another far-right politician, retained his position in Baixàs. "It's a lesson for the future of Catalonia and Spain: simply calling them fascists isn't enough," former mayor of Elna Nicolas Garcia told ARA. "We Catalans can't win," added Forques councilor Jordi Vera, who emphasized that 60% of the population comes from outside Northern Catalonia.

The left—despite party divisions—is holding its ground in major cities, while Marine Le Pen's far right has faltered. The French municipal elections have resulted in a map with more far-right mayoralties than ever before, but the National Rally (RN) has not achieved the electoral success it had hoped for. In many municipalities where the far-right candidate had managed to advance to the second round, it ultimately failed to win. The results—still provisional—show that the far right, with some exceptions, is struggling to surpass the 50% threshold and continues to struggle to gain traction in major cities. This is a setback for Le Pen, who had aimed to win in Marseille. According to the initial results, the RN has not won in either Nîmes or Toulon, two cities that were within its reach and which it had expected to win. In large and medium-sized cities, the far right is securing few victories. He retained the mayoralty in Perpignan (Louis Aliot had already won in the first round) and won in Carcassonne and Nice, although the Nice candidate, Éric Ciotti, is not from Marine Le Pen's party, only an ally.

The first round of the municipal elections in FranceThe elections held on Sunday left a good number of city halls within reach of left-wing parties, mainly thanks to the strong showing of the left-wing coalitions—comprised primarily of Socialists and Greens—and the advance of La France Insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon's radical left-wing party, which until now had a very strong local presence. However, these positive results could turn into failure in the second and final round, to be held next Sunday. Tensions between La France Insoumise and the other left-wing parties, especially the Socialist Party, could lead to important cities like Paris and Marseille, where the left could govern, falling into the hands of the right or the far right. In a two-round political system, if voters must choose between two left-wing parties in the second round, the progressive vote is split. That's why, in the last legislative elections, the main left-wing parties, including the insubordinate ones, presented joint candidacies under the name of the New Popular Front (NFP). However, this alliance is long since defunct, and the leader of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, warned this Monday that there will be no national pact with LFI for the second round of the municipal elections, although he is open to local agreements.

The first round of municipal elections held this Sunday in France confirms the advance of the far right. Final results will not be known until next Sunday, but Marine Le Pen's party, the National Rally (RN), has managed to advance to the second round in the vast majority of municipalities where it ran and will compete to win in city halls where it has not yet governed, such as Marseille, France's second-largest city, Nice, and Toulon. "It is a huge victory for our movement," Le Pen declared in a message to X.

The French return to the polls this Sunday to elect their local representatives. France is holding the first round of municipal elections, votes that don't usually carry national weight. However, this time, the proximity of the presidential elections—scheduled for spring 2027—will mean that the results will be interpreted through the lens of national politics. Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN), a party that has traditionally had a weak local presence, wants the municipal elections to be its springboard to the Élysée Palace. Le Pen and her right-hand man—and likely presidential candidate if she is definitively barred from running—Jordan Bardella, want to translate their strong showing in the recent legislative and European elections into more mayoralties. This won't be easy because the RN's limited local presence means it can't field candidates in a significant number of municipalities. There's an anecdote that perfectly illustrates the situation: Bardella won't be able to vote for a candidate from the party he leads because Garches, the municipality of 17,000 inhabitants where he lives on the outskirts of Paris, doesn't have a candidate from Réagrupament Nacional.

Josep Maria. This is how opponents of Aliança Catalana sarcastically call a militant or sympathizer of Sílvia Orriols' party. It is an ironic stereotype to describe a profile of a traditional and conservative middle-aged man who used to vote for Convergència and has now switched to Aliança. There are even users on social media who use this name to ridicule the Islamophobic formation, emphasizing the lack of women at their events or stalls. Beyond the sarcasm, the data supports the party's male bias. Only 19% of the party's 2,500 militants are women, meaning fewer than 500, despite it being a new party that continues to grow in membership, and it is the only one, along with the Comuns, that is led by a woman. It is the lowest figure among parties with representation in Parliament, according to data provided by the political forces themselves, at the request of ARA. Vox, the other far-right formation, has a similar problem and only counts on 24.5% women among its membership. Following behind are the PP, with 32.2%; the CUP, with 34.1%; ERC, with 35.15%, and Junts and Comuns, with 40%. The PSC is the most feminized party with 49.1%.The profile of an Aliança militant resembles that of its voter: it is also the party with the fewest female voters. According to the latest poll by the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió (CEO), published in November, out of every 100 voters of the far-right party, only 39 are women compared to 61 who are men. And this statistic also goes hand in hand with Vox, which has 43% women and 57% men as voters. For their part, the percentage of women who say they will vote for the CUP is 45%, Junts and PP have 48%, while women are the majority among voters for Comuns (52%), ERC (54%), and PSC (56%). This low percentage of women in parties makes it difficult to form lists for municipal elections. This was acknowledged by the mayor of Ripoll during the first municipal convention, held in early February in Ripoll. The party leader admitted the difficulties they face in adapting to electoral regulations, which require the formation of zipper lists with parity between men and women. The law for effective equality between women and men, approved in 2007, establishes that in municipalities with more than 3,000 inhabitants, in each block of five candidates, no sex can have less than 40% of representatives. Thus, for example, among the first five places, there must be a minimum of two men and two women. This balance, which is not subject to whether the mayoral candidate is male or female, means that Aliança is aware that lists may be at risk due to a lack of women. "We will work to reverse this trend," stated the leader of Aliança during the municipal convention with an eye on the next elections. and can aspire to obtain the maximum number of councilors, this lack of women in their ranks also plays a key role.

Tempting offer from Aliança Catalana in the heart of Catalonia. And doubly so. And rejected once again. Sílvia Orriols' party proposed to Manresa councilor, Sergi Perramon, to be the candidate in the capital of Bages. If he accepted the proposal, Perramon would also be the candidate for Barcelona in the next Catalan elections. The councilor, who had run for the Front Nacional de Catalunya (FNC), from which Orriols split, has once again rejected the offer, as he himself confirmed to ARA. "Jordi Coma called me on behalf of the president on the last day of the year and I rejected it," he says, referring to the party's advisor in Parliament. The leadership has declined to confirm the information, when questioned by this newspaper.

In the last municipal elections, Aliança Catalana, making its debut, only ran in three towns, and in all three—Ripoll, Manlleu, and Ribera de Ondara—it won seats. However, in the latter two towns, the lead candidates are no longer councilors. The leadership distanced itself after various controversies and disagreements. They were right, then, about where to field candidates, but not about choosing the right ones to lead them.

The internal squabble in ERC in Girona city This week adds a new chapter after months of power struggles and a few The primaries to choose the mayoral candidate are very close.which ended with Marc Puigtió, former mayor of Sant Julià de Ramis and an ally of Oriol Junqueras, winning by a single vote. The local executive committee of the Republicans just submitted its resignation this Monday to prevent the motion of no confidence presented in January by the only member of the leadership aligned with Puigtió from succeeding. In a joint statement, the now-former executive committee asserts that it is resigning "due to the lack of democratic guarantees" and because it refuses to legitimize practices that it "believes are contrary to the party's values."

Aliança Catalana (AC) was founded in Ripoll in 2020. Plataforma per Catalunya (PxC) was founded in Vic in 2002. Two decades later, the parties of Silvia Orriols and Josep Anglada, who has now rebranded as Som Identitaris (SOMI), could face each other at the polls in Vic. The two leading figures of the Catalan far right, head to head.

In the last municipal elections, Aliança Catalana, making its debut, gained representation in three towns: Ripoll, Manlleu, and Ribera de Ondara. In the capital of Ripollès, the candidacy headed by Silvia Orriols increased its representation from 1 to 6 councilors and won the mayoralty thanks to the opposition of the other political forces. In Ribera de Ondara, the far-right pro-independence party... from having a provisional mayor to being left without representatives after the leadership distanced itself from the then mayor, Albert Puig, over some statementsin which he labeled the LGBTI community a "cancer".The former mayor's ties to members of the candidacy led to the number two candidate becoming an independent councilor, and the Aliança Catalana project in Ribera de Ondara ultimately failed. In Manlleu, however, the party remains represented in council meetings, despite the resignation of its lead candidate, Roger Saborit, who ceded his position to a well-known Espanyol supporter From the municipality, Jordi Rierola. The fact is that in the second largest city in Osona, there might not be a Catalan Alliance list in the upcoming elections. According to information obtained by ARA, last Friday, the regional leadership convened a coordination meeting, during which the party president in Osona, Marina Quintana, implied that there would be no candidacy.

Former Junts Economy Minister Jaume Giró has admitted that Aliança Catalana offered him the candidacy for Barcelona in the upcoming municipal elections, which he declined. He revealed this in an interview on RTVE: "Since I stepped aside on September 4th, I've had meetings with many people who have offered me all sorts of things, from creating a new party to forming a citizens' platform. That also happened, and I listen to everyone, and I politely declined the proposal." Giró explained that the offer didn't come directly from Aliança's leader, Silvia Orriols, but from someone within the party leadership, without specifying who.

The proposal by Judit Vinyes, spokesperson for Berga Grup Independent (BeGI), for the party to join Aliança Catalana has fractured the group. The other councilor, Lluís Minoves, has become an independent councilor, and fifteen of the twenty members of the list have expressed their opposition to "any integration with other parties" and reaffirmed "the independent, cross-party, and strictly local character of this party," which entered the City Council in 2023 with two representatives.

It's official: Aiguafreda now belongs to the Osona region for all intents and purposes, after the plenary session of the Parliament approved this Wednesday the bill to change the district of the municipality that until now was part of Vallès Oriental. After all the administrative procedures have been completed and the chamber has given the final necessary approval, the municipality sees the will expressed in a referendum in May 2022 fulfilled, which was clear with 60.6% of votes in favor, unlike the 1987 consultation that opted for Serlles. Curiously, this change has broken the PP's bad streak in Osona, where it has not had a single councilor for ten years, while now, suddenly, it has recovered one. The Popular Party (PP) Lydia Remon Aguirre is a councilor in the town of 2,500 inhabitants and leaves behind the total journey through the wilderness in the area due to this administrative change.

Girona faces the mid-term of a tripartite government, unprecedented in its history, formed by Guanyem, Junts, and Esquerra (Republican Left), with a particularly hot topic on the table: a change in the waste collection model. The daily recycling schedule, with the introduction of so-called smart containers, is unanimously considered the worst of Mayor Lluc Salellas's first two years in office, according to the eight sector representatives interviewed by ARA.

The 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."