Collboni closes his toughest week with a double defeat

BarcelonaJaume Collboni has reached the halfway point of his term at his lowest point. After seeing how Junts per Barcelona (Together for Barcelona) this week he got up from the table Negotiations to modify the 30% reserve for social housing, thus bringing down what had become the municipal government's big gamble, the mayor of the Catalan capital suffered a double defeat this Friday: the plenary session reprimanded the mayor for the umpteenth time for his "inability to reach agreements" and overturned the regulation that was supposed to allow the 2. A setback, the latter, that has ended up blowing up the relationship between Junts and the PSC.

This Friday's defeats are, along with the failure of the talks to reform the regulation that requires developers to reserve 30% for social housing when they carry out new construction or renovate entire buildings in areas of Barcelona under pressure, the latest obstacles faced by Collboni, who, with only one mandate, has not received any budget through ordinary channels. The Municipal Action Plan, which defines the executive's roadmap, has also not been approved, nor has he reached a government agreement with any group to avoid governing alone. A scenario that has led to the mayor now accumulating four reprimands from the plenary session.

The latest was debated this Friday in an extraordinary session forced by Junts and the Comuns (England's Commons), in which most of the opposition groups attacked the mayor. The leader of the Junts (Juntos) in the council, Jordi Martí, reproached Collboni for his government having "no real project for change among citizens" and for "ignoring" the agreements adopted by the plenary session, while from Barcelona en Común, Janet Sanz stressed that this mandate is "the chronicle of a government that keeps failing." Also from the PP, its leader in the City Council, Daniel Sirera, has been harsh in his criticism of Collboni's government: "The weakest and most arrogant thing Barcelona has ever had." Only ERC, through its deputy spokesperson, Jordi Coronas, has given the executive some breathing space. Although he stressed that "the city is no better" since the PSC took office, he defended his group's abstention because Junts and the Comuns "have turned the criticisms into a tantrum."

Pressure from Fomento and the developers for the 30%

Unlike other occasions when the plenary session has reproved him, this time Collboni did not speak at all, instead allowing Laia Bonet to defend the executive. The first deputy mayor ignored the other groups and addressed Junts only. Barcelona does not condemn citizens to have a law in force that does not work," he defended, and assured that the executive remains at the table, willing to reach an agreement. In response, Martí has blamed Collboni's executive for the lack of agreement for not having opened that file before and for not having accepted the conditions that Junts placed on it. This debate was taking place, Foment del Treball and the Association of Promoters of Catalonia (APCE) held a press conference in which they harshly criticized the lack of agreement between both groups due to "futile" issues, "ego" and "partisanship". Sánchez Llibre. The president of APCE, Xavier Vilajoana, has assured that it is "absolutely ridiculous, frustrating and desperate" that the negotiations between the PSC and Junts for Barcelona have broken down due to "futile" issues. Surprise with the Tasers

The clash between the municipal government and Junts, however, was yet to escalate. After the rebuke, the municipal executive was still facing another defeat, this one unexpected. The opposition struck down the regulation that was supposed to allow the Urban Guard to be equipped with electric pistols. Only the PSC and PP voted in favor of a proposal that Junts rejected. The reason? They considered the 22 pistols that were to be purchased insufficient and asked the government to postpone the debate on the regulation for a month to meet with Urban Guard unions that had doubts about the regulation. However, the government did not withdraw the point, and the vote was lost with votes against from Junts, Barcelona en Comú, and ERC.

The defeat has hardened the tone of the recriminations between the municipal executive and Junts. In statements to reporters, the third deputy mayor for security, Albert Batlle, accused the municipal council members, and Jordi Martí in particular, of "leaving the Urban Guard in the lurch." "They've completely lost their way," said Batlle, who denounced that by overturning the Taser regulation after breaking the 30% threshold, "Martí completes a glorious week" and asserted that not everyone within the Junts group agrees with what has been done. The Junts leader at City Hall responded to Batlle by blaming him for the failure of the Taser regulation because he refused to meet with the Urban Guard unions. Martí warned that "arrogance and arrogance lead nowhere," and asserted that if the municipal government "continues like this," "Juntos" will not approve anything." Both groups still have the amendment to the coexistence ordinance on the table.

Collboni's horizon

The scenario at City Hall foreshadows a difficult outlook for Collboni, who, with the hostility of Junts and Barcelona en Comú, is struggling to secure the necessary support to approve the budget through ordinary channels. However, the mayor still has a chance to approve the budget through a vote of confidence, since despite the fact that they often ally themselves to reject him in plenary sessions, it is unlikely that the council members and the Comú will agree on a vote of no confidence that would force them to elect a new mayor.

Therefore, despite the low moment he is going through and this Friday's rejection, the PSC government is not overly concerned. While waiting to see how the other major reform the executive is underway—the ordinance on cohabitation—is finalized, Collboni has room to continue governing with relative ease in a second term in which he will continue to emphasize housing—with a prominent role for his international agenda—and completing some of the urban transformations.