The Junts maelstrom in Barcelona continues. The debate to find a mayoral candidate to replace Xavier Trias... who said goodbye to the council It's been a year and a half, and the decision is still not finalized, although the party leadership makes no secret of its preference for one of the current councilors. According to ARA, the option of recruiting last-minute candidates has been ruled out after receiving some rejections, and the candidacy of the party's spokesperson and vice president, Josep Rius, is gaining considerable ground as the clear favorite. However, Jordi Martí, the leader of the municipal group, handpicked by Trias, hasn't thrown in the towel. Rius is the best positioned in the eyes of the leadership, according to multiple sources, but the main objective is to "reach a consensus" and "avoid primaries," which would only be called in the event of a major conflict. The name, therefore, "is between Rius and Martí," says a council source, because the option of bringing in someone from outside the party "hasn't taken hold." In this sense, under the leadership's auspices, there are ongoing "conversations" involving the two potential candidates. The objective of these contacts, which have not yet yielded anything concrete, is to avoid a public "confrontation." How? With their commitment "not to call primaries until there is an agreement or a definitive break" between both sides—implying that, had they understood, the votes would have been avoided, although this now seems a distant prospect. Rius is the frontrunner, and in fact, Puigdemont has a particular fondness for him, according to several sources, but he will achieve his goal "provided everything is done calmly." "Nobody wants to go to war," they say.

After the pact for the Delegation of immigration powers between the PSOE and Junts, the ground had been prepared for future negotiations between the junteros and the Spanish government. But this Monday, Carles Puigdemont's party has warned what the counterparty is that it is asking for in order to sit down and negotiate the general state budget (which does not mean approving it): the return of the historical debt in infrastructure. "Juntos will not negotiate the general state budget until it pays all the outstanding debt in infrastructure: 50,000 million euros," announced the spokesperson for the party, Josep Rius, in a press conference after the permanent one on Monday. "That is why we have not approved the budget and we will not negotiate it until they pay what they owe us," he added, criticizing the numerous "non-compliances." In fact, Junts sources in private see it as very difficult that they can agree on this year's budget.