Surprise in Barcelona: the plenary session rejects the Gold Medal for Cultural Merit for Loles León

BarcelonaBarcelona City Council has experienced a practically unprecedented situation this Friday. The plenary rejected a proposal to award the Gold Medal for Cultural Merit to the actress Loles León. Together for Barcelona, ​​​​ERC, PP and Vox have voted against the decision and have made the votes of the PSC - which was the one who had proposed the decoration - and Barcelona en Comú sterile. A defeat that leaves León without recognition by the city council of the city where she was born in 1950 and that once again underlines the minority with which the mayor, Jaume Collboni, governs.

The proposal that had been put to a vote defended awarding this distinction to Loles Léon - of Andalusian parents but born in Barceloneta - for her "brilliant and extensive professional career, her contribution to Spanish and Catalan culture and for having become an essential reference in the world of the world." Arguments that have not been sufficient to convince the majority of the plenary.

Junts por Barcelona and Esquerra have argued that, despite recognizing Loles León's artistic career, they could not vote in favor of the medal because the actress has attacked "linguistic normalization." "We cannot honor in the name of the city those who are against the values ​​that Barcelona defends," said Junts councilor Josep Rius. Esquerra councilor Jordi Castellana has expressed himself in the same vein, pointing out that "the city would not be doing a favor" by rewarding those who question its capacity to welcome.

With Junts and ERC voting against, the ball was in the court of the PP or Vox. Both groups, however, have voted against the recognition. However, in this case not for having questioned immersion but to underline, they have said, the "weakness" of Jaume Collboni's government and to make him understand that he cannot make decisions without first negotiating with the groups. "Our vote is not against León, although she has shown herself to be against PP voters, but because you have not understood that she is weak," said the Popular Party councillor Juan Milián.

Collboni regrets the decision

After confirming the defeat, the mayor, Jaume Collboni, regretted the opposition's decision. He stressed that the initiative to wear this type of medal was not taken by the municipal government, but he stressed that, in his opinion, Loles León "deserved this medal." "We feel proud as Barcelonans and as lovers of theatre and cinema to have Loles León as one of the daughters of the city," said Collboni, who assured that if the profession gives her recognition he would want to attend as mayor, if he is invited.

The proposal to award this medal had been promoted by the group 'One of our own', which promotes the cultural agitator Joan Estrada. The municipal government had taken it up and had taken it to the commission and now to the plenary session. In statements to EFE, Estrada considered the plenary session's position to be "ignominious", and announced that he would soon pay tribute to her to "make up for" what happened today.

The controversy surrounding León and language immersion dates back to 2022, when in an interview on RAC1 she was asked if the lack of opportunities in Barcelona was one of the reasons she had gone to live in Madrid. "I had no opportunities. The language normalisation thing came up and then it was very difficult. I started out as a charniega, then a butiflera, and now they call me a colona because I am in Madrid," she said.

However, the PSC and the Comuns have defended that during her career León has done works in Catalan. "Awarding her the medal is not only honouring rebellious Barcelona, but also defending Catalan," said the Councillor for Culture, Xavier Marcé. From the Comuns, Councillor Jess González has even defended that surely Loles León would have joined the campaign Catalan for everyone, which aims to promote universal access to learning and use of Catalan.

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