The plenary session of the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, meeting this Thursday, has narrowly approved the reform proposed by the executive committee to expand from two to ten the paid vocal seats granted by greater voluntary contribution, the so-called silver chairs. The body was completely divided in the session, with a tie of 29 votes in favor of the measure and 29 against. The decision was unblocked by the casting vote of the president, Josep Santacreu.

The executive of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, led by president Josep Santacreu, is nearing the end of its term with a burning issue. The highest governing body of the public law corporation announced an agreement last week to increase the number of voluntary economic contribution memberships, known as "silver chairs", from the current two to ten. The proposal, which Santacreu himself had considered since his victory in the 2023 chamber elections, has notable support within the plenary but also a significant number of detractors. The final say will lie with the entity's plenary, which will meet next Thursday and, according to sources consulted by ARA, there is currently no certainty about the outcome of the vote.

Since Josep Santacreu was sworn in as president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce in October 2023, with the clear objective—among others—of "recovering relations with large companies" within the institution, there has been a steady stream of new collaborations under the "institutional partner" category. In fact, since this category was reinstated in September 2024—which already existed during the time of Miquel Valls, prior to the arrival of the pro-independence list Herramientas de País to the institution—the first company to join this category was Ibercaja, the latest being Indra, in an agreement signed just a week ago, according to the Chamber itself.