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

BarcelonaLa Mercè began this Wednesday with a marriage proposal, and continued this Thursday with various 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 starting gun for the pre-campaign of the municipal elections in May. Because the Virgin of Mercy may have been able to end the locust plague that the city was suffering in her day, but it does not seem 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 an appointment with the ballot boxes that is still eight months away. The survey published this Thursday by El Periódico has contributed to this, which depicts a more fragmented hemicycle in which the mayor, Jaume Collboni, seems to hold the best cards to revalidate his position. 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 snatch the mayoral staff from them. "The only solid option that progressivism and democracy in this city has is Jaume Collboni's project," declared councilor Marta Villanueva, who put on the table another of the slogans that will be heard over these months: the risk of the rise of the extreme right.

The same poll points to a growth of Vox –which would go from the two councilors it currently has to between three and four– and, above all, to a strong breakthrough by Aliança Catalana. Sílvia Orriols' party would enter the capital with between five and six councilors, a result identical to what the poll predicts for both Junts and the Comuns. These two parties would be the biggest losers after having been the first and third forces four years ago with 11 and 9 councilors, respectively. This Thursday, both groups strove to relativize the results of the survey, noting that the citizenry gives Collboni's management a failing grade of 4.8 and expressed confidence 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 usually win," said Junts mayoral candidate Jordi Martí Galbis, who even predicted that this would be "the last Mercè with Collboni as mayor." Barcelona en Comú spokesperson 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 – joined by a CUP that could return to the council with two or three councilors – is in 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 the polls smiling upon them lately in the capital is ERC. Its leader in the city, Elisenda Alamany, boasted of being the one who "has made a better reading of what the city needs" and has known how to provide "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 was quick to deny this "alternative" banner to ERC and, with another campaign classic, waved the bogeyman 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 battle 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 rafters to see the Eagle's Dance and the City's Giants or the human tower day— and those 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 even to 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 set to become increasingly common for these dates. If before the tradition was that it would rain during La Mercè because, according to the 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 over a lit brazier. A heat that the Archbishop of Barcelona, Joan Josep Omella, has also suffered, who in his last La Mercè mass before leaving office has seen how, on two occasions, the fans caused the power to go out in the Basilica of La Mercè.