Jaume Collboni: "We want to triple what stopover cruises pay in Barcelona"

BarcelonaMayor Jaume Collboni (Barcelona, 1969) receives ARA when there is just one year left until the municipal elections. We talk about housing –the main problem for Barcelonians–, tourism, security, and also about the PSOE's situation amid the Zapatero storm.

If you had to approve a single measure in what remains of your term, what would it be?

— The one that makes it possible to reduce cruise ship stairs to zero.

The Port has not taken kindly to it, for the moment.

— Well, it doesn't just depend on the Port. It's evident that Barcelona's tourism model must have limits. We are making decisions that no other city is making regarding tourist apartments, the tourist tax, or the regulation of high-traffic areas. We have agreed to reduce the number of cruise terminals from seven to five, and now my objective is to reduce port calls to the maximum, a zero objective. First, through taxation.

Will negotiate with the Generalitat to expand the surcharge. Until when?

— Multiply by three the 8 euros maximum that it currently allows us, up to 24 euros per day. We believe that this figure is proportionate to the impact that these types of cruises have. Our model is to be a home port.

Is it compatible to reduce cruise ships and at the same time expand the airport?

— It is to the extent that what the airport expansion does is above all increase the capacity to have direct transcontinental flights and connect us with the United States or Asia. Limiting tourist overcrowding has to do above all with the number of beds available in a city. In Barcelona we have a cap on hotel construction and we will recover 10,000 tourist homes. It was a bad decision, this policy of free rein for tourist apartments.

Is it compatible to de-massify with events like the Tour or the Pope's visit?

— The same could be said of Bad Bunny or major music festivals because people come from abroad. But the first to benefit is the Barcelona resident, who can access them. And I don't want to give up having a city that can organize the start of the Tour. And much less for the Pope to come and visit us.

Are these funds leaving the city?

— The measures we are taking with the regulation of rentals, including seasonal rentals, or the elimination of tourist apartments have a first direct consequence: they discourage funds that came only to speculate. It is beginning to be seen that there are funds that are disinvesting or not buying in the city. Some have told me: "If there is no profitability here, we will go to Madrid." Well, poor Madrilenians.

But finding a flat to rent in Barcelona continues to be an impossible mission.

— Prices have been objectively contained, unlike in other communities. They could be around 250 euros more expensive now without regulation. Today in Barcelona there are more active rental contracts than two years ago. But it is true that many apartments are missing.

And how many more floors can be built?

— Regarding planning, the city is in a position to build 75,000 more homes. The City Council will continue to increase its production rate. In the past term, we built 1,000 protected housing units, in this one we will build 3,000, and in the next one, my objective as mayor is to build 6,000. But there is still much to develop. We have the Marina neighborhood, which is currently under development, and we have the future Sagrera neighborhood, where more homes can be built.

And beyond building, are they considering converting empty premises into housing? Today many are already sold as such even without having a certificate.

— With the issue of commercial premises, I ask for caution because it is very important that the city maintains economic and commercial activity within the city. I always temper these expectations a lot because usually the ground floors were not designed to live in, but for economic activity to take place there.

And with the empty dwelling, what should be done?

— We are preparing measures precisely to encourage these empty apartments to be put up for social or regulated rent with all guarantees. The small owner is the great supplier of housing in the city, and I agree with those who say that they must be given stability and legal security so that they dare to put the apartment up for rent.

What measures?

— We'll see. They are still in the oven. I don't like to count my chickens before they hatch or make proposals that are not well thought out. We are working to mobilize housing that is empty and to give security to the small owner so that they put their housing up for rent and that it reaches families who need it.

Will Sant Agustí and Bloc Papallona end up like Casa Orsola?

— We will see. There is no other mechanism in a market economy than reaching an agreement with the property. And that's what we're doing.

Barcelona is breaking homelessness records. Does the City Council have the capacity to face this situation?

— Alone, no. The City Council invests 51 million euros a year in homelessness policies and has more than 3,000 places for people who are in the process of leaving the street and returning to a normal and dignified life. No other administration is doing this. Barcelona can reasonably handle the pressure it has as a city, but it cannot take care of the entire metropolitan area or all of Catalonia.

Is there a lack of collaboration from other cities?

— I believe that all administrations should commit themselves as the City Council does. In Barcelona there is a policy of reintegration and of removing people on the street, and other towns not only do not have it, but have also allowed themselves the luxury of closing day centers. This is a problem for the country and, therefore, the scale of the solution must be for the country.

Have you found understanding on the other side of Plaça Sant Jaume?

— Yes, but this needs to be specified with the budget and resources.

Lately there have been shootings in the city. Is there a problem with organized crime?

— In Barcelona today, the number of crimes has dropped to the level of ten years ago. There are more police, Mossos and Guardia Urbana, and there are more courts. And there has been a modification of the Penal Code that I hope will bear fruit. I believe we are on the right track to address the issue of security. And it is true that we are seeing phenomena of violence that are surely related to drug trafficking and that, evidently, go beyond the responsibility of city councils.

Does it worry you that this could lead to a rise in the far-right?

— We must be very clear in telling people that we know when there is an insecurity problem and that our police forces are working on it. But we must not make the problem bigger or create social alarm, which is what the far-right does frivolously and irresponsibly to break coexistence. The great political battle of our time is against the far-right. I aim to turn Barcelona into their electoral tomb.

The far right also talks a lot about immigration. Is Barcelona doing a good job of integration?

— Over the last 25 years it is evident that there has been a demographic change in our country and in our city, and it has been done reasonably well. Those who come to provoke and stir things up are precisely the far-right ideologies, which afterwards do not fix anything when they govern but rather make it worse. One only needs to see what Meloni is doing in Italy or what Trump is doing in the United States.

Barcelona has consolidated itself above 1.7 million inhabitants. Can it absorb more?

— Barcelona is already very dense. It has 15,000 inhabitants per square kilometer, and Madrid has 5,000. I believe there are areas in the metropolitan area that can be densified, but populations that are already very dense must be cautious when making generalizations about whether or not it can be densified.

Lately, several agreements have been reached with Junts. Will we also see an agreement for 30%?

— I don't think so, frankly. With this I want to temper expectations a lot, because there is an inversely proportional relationship between reaching agreements and getting closer to the election date.

And will we see any sanction for non-compliance with the 30% this term?

— Those who are perceptive and state the procedures. In the administration, processes are often very protective and have their own times. We must respect them.

Does he/she like Consell de Cent street?

— Yes, but there are things to improve, obviously. The issue of loading and unloading is not well resolved, and not having prioritized the uses of public space causes certain confusions at certain times. I believe the city has already learned that when pacifications are done vertically and not horizontally, the impacts on mobility or the distribution of goods work differently.

Would the City Council be willing to modify Consell de Cent as it is now?

— Physically, it is very difficult and I don't think it is convenient. No one thinks of it.

After the Rambla, does the mandate that is coming up mean it's time for Plaça Catalunya or Passeig Colom?

— Rather than thinking about large emblematic works, what we like to do is guarantee the right to stay in their neighborhood or city by making concrete urban planning improvements in the neighborhoods. We are much more focused on these concrete transformation projects, rather than on building new large avenues or new large projects.

Now that we have a budget, when will we have a tram?

— If everything goes well, we can start the works in the second half of 2027.

Would you put your hand in the fire for Zapatero?

— I believe that prudence requires giving President Zapatero time to explain himself and for justice to demonstrate what is appropriate. What I can say is that President Zapatero's legacy in political matters is very important for this country.

Do you think Pedro Sánchez can hold on?

— It has to endure. This country is making advances in economic, social, and cohabitation matters that had not been made in the last 15 years. I believe that it suits all of us – progressives, democrats, and Catalonia – for this legislature to run its course.

Does this mean he prefers the Spanish elections to coincide with the municipal ones?

— No. As far as I know, the legislature runs out afterwards.

Are you worried that the Spanish situation could cost you votes?

— I am convinced that people have the judgment to know how to value each context. And I believe that people in Catalonia and Barcelona will give broad support to the PSOE in the general elections and to the PSC in the municipal elections. My concern is to govern until the day before the elections.