Janet Sanz, leader of Barcelona en Común at City Hall, leaves politics.
He will leave the City Council before the end of the year, once the group has been able to restructure itself.
BarcelonaFrom the Consell de Cent superblock, a symbol of her career at Barcelona City Council, Janet Sanz, the leader of BComú on the council, announced this Monday that she is leaving politics. After 14 years as a councilor, Sanz explained that she will step down before the end of the year, once the Commons group has been able to restructure itself. "I am leaving full, satisfied, proud, and happy," emphasized Sanz, who revealed that she has been considering this step for more than two years.
Sanz, who gathered her group colleagues this morning to inform them of her decision, gave no clues about what plans she has once she leaves politics, but explained that she is "absolutely convinced" that it is the right time to leave. "14 years in the City Council and more than 20 in political activism must give way to a time to take care of myself, heal wounds, and begin to pave a new path that I want to walk little by little," explained the current leader of BComú in the council.
For years, Sanz has been one of the most visible faces of the Colaú movement. Forged in the youth of ICV, with the arrival of the former mayor to the government in 2015, she took over the area of Urban Planning, one of the most delicate. From there, as she recalled this Monday, projects such as the superblocks were promoted, but also the Special Urban Plan for Tourist Accommodation (PEUAT) – which limited the growth of the city's hotels – and the reservation of 30% of the subsidized housing.
These measures have also caused Sanz to be one of the representatives of the Comú who has had to face lawsuits in court the most times, all of them finally archivedIn his farewell, the former head of Urban Planning has charged against "the strategy of lawfare and misinformation" and "the lobbying campaign" that his party has suffered. "The best response to the lobbying is that this is not going to be touched, that no one will ever dare to dismantle this superblock. It is the best victory with which I can say goodbye politically," he concluded.
The future of the municipal group
Although Janet Sanz's departure marks the departure of the last active representative from Ada Colau's first team to become mayor, one of its leading figures could soon return. Gerardo Pisarello, now a member of Congress and among those present at Sanz's farewell party this Monday, is among the candidates to lead Barcelona en Común's bid for the City Council in 2027.
The electoral horizon will be one of the key factors in the debate that is now underway. In 2023, the party has entered a phase of redefining its position. In fact, Sanz is the second leader to join the municipal group in this term, after do the former mayor Ada Colau a year ago. Sanz then assumed the reins, which he has now relinquished. When asked about the future of the space, Sanz said there would be time to discuss it, but she expressed her conviction that the team that remains "is the best guarantee that the city will continue to beat and transform."
They were all present at Sanz's press conference on Monday, along with the leader of the Commons in the Parliament, Jéssica Albiach, former Commons deputies such as Xavier Domènech and Josep Vendrell, and long-standing ICV leaders such as Jaume Bosch and Ricard Gomà, of whom Sanz has claimed to be a daughter, "mother, Ada Colau," she said.