A wedding, a martyrdom and the pre-campaign: La Mercè kicks off

BarcelonaLa Mercè began this Wednesday with a marriage proposal, and has continued this Thursday with several calls to renew vows. If at the Palau de la Virreina it was one of the Eagle bearers who took advantage of the start of the festival to ask their partner to marry them, at the City Hall the traditional procession of authorities culminated in the no less traditional kickoff of the pre-campaign for the municipal elections in May. Because the Virgin of Mercy may have been able to end the plague of locusts that the city suffered in her day, but it does not seem that she can do anything against the avalanche of electoral slogans that awaits the people of Barcelona.

In the Saló de Cent, some slogans and the first appeals for the useful vote have already been heard ahead of a date with the polls for which there are still eight months to go. This was contributed to by the poll published this Thursday El Periódico and which draws a more fragmented hemicycle in which the mayor, Jaume Collboni, seems to have the best cards to revalidate the office. According to the poll, the PSC would win the elections with between nine and ten councilors, and it would be frankly complicated to articulate an alternative majority that could wrest the mayor's staff from them. "The only solid option that progressivism and democracy have in this city is Jaume Collboni's project," retorted councilor Marta Villanueva, who put on the table another of the slogans that will be heard in the coming months: the risk of the rise of the far right.

The same poll points to a growth for Vox –which would go from the two councilors it has now to between three and four– and, above all, to a strong breakthrough for Aliança Catalana. Those of Sílvia Orriols would enter the capital with between five and six councilors, a result identical to the one the poll predicts for both Junts and Comuns. These two parties would be the big losers after having been the first and third forces four years ago with 11 and 9 councilors, respectively. This Thursday both groups were striving to relativize the results of the poll, noting that the citizenry fails Collboni's management with a 4.8 and were confident in turning the trend around before the month of May.

"The main poll is the one on election day. That is the one that counts and the one we normally win," said the mayoral candidate for Junts, Jordi Martí Galbis, who even predicted that this would be "the last Mercè with Collboni as mayor." The spokesperson for Barcelona en Comú, Marc Serra, also made an optimistic reading of the poll, pointing out that it was more favorable to his group than the last municipal barometer and highlighting that the left –to which is added a CUP that could return to the council with two or three councilors– are the majority. "Barcelona can and must be governed by a progressive majority, which Collboni has mistreated for the last three years," he defended.

Who, on the other hand, sees that the polls in the capital have recently been smiling upon them is ERC. Their leader in the city, Elisenda Alamany, has boasted of being the one who "has made a better reading of what the city needs" and has known how to give "useful answers." "We are going all out because we are the only alternative to Collboni that can generate progressive hope in our city," she assured, and stressed that she is not running "to make deals with I don't know who" but "to win." From the PP, Daniel Sirera has rushed to deny this "alternative" banner to ERC and, with another campaign classic, has waved the specter of the tripartite to set himself up as the only one who can avoid this progressive majority.

The party overflows the street

While inside the City Hall the electoral brawl was already being glimpsed, outside the joy of La Mercè overflowed the streets. The usual ones –such as a Plaça Sant Jaume packed to the brim to see the Eagle's Dance and the City's Giants or the human towers festival— and those that were debuting for the first time, such as the remodeled Parc de les Glòries. In its debut as a stage for La Mercè, it has had a resounding success with the public that made it difficult at times to even be able to see the theater and circus shows that were held there.

In Glòries, as in the rest of the city, the other protagonist has been a heat that seems to be becoming more and more common for these dates. If before the tradition was that it would rain during La Mercè because, according to legend, Saint Eulalia was crying, now it seems that the co-patron saint of Barcelona has opted for another type of revenge that involves making us relive one of her 13 martyrdoms: the obligation to stand on a burning brazier. A heat that was also suffered by the Archbishop of Barcelona, Joan Josep Omella, who in his last La Mercè mass before leaving office saw how on two occasions the fans caused the power to go out in the Basilica of La Mercè.