They call him the “gentleman” of Barcelona. Some even think they see a resemblance to George Clooney. His sober demeanor reminds others more of a German, of Olaf Scholz. Jaume Collboni, 53 years old and a socialist, wants to be mayor of Barcelona. It’s his third attempt. In the past legislature, he at least managed to become deputy to the left-wing alternative mayor Ada Colau. The two committed themselves to making Barcelona a more livable and greener city.
But in February Collboni broke with Colau to enter the race for mayor himself. Now he promises that neither the leftist Colau (Barcelona en Comú) nor the conservative pro-independence representative Xavier Trias (Junts) will be in office. The message is clear: This time Collboni wants to go to the Casa de la Ciutat move in, the town hall on Plaça de Sant Jaume. It also fits, from the first name.
Sánchez hopes the Socialists will win in Barcelona – he would have one less problem
Jaume Collboni is not only fighting for himself or for the Catalan Socialists in Barcelona, he is also fighting for the leader of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) in Madrid. His name is Pedro Sánchez and this Sunday he should be at least as nervous as Collboni himself. Because when elections are held in Spain’s municipalities and in twelve of the 17 autonomous regions on May 28th, the outcome of these elections will also be an important signal for the Spanish-wide parliamentary elections , which is scheduled for the end of the year.
“Sánchez would win Barcelona but lose Seville,” headlined the right-wing newspaper La Razon this week given the latest polls from major cities. If that were to happen, it would be both good and bad for the head of government: bad because Seville is something of a “cathedral of socialism,” and if the PSOE loses it, it might look like all is lost. But at the same time, this scenario would also be good because if the Socialists win Barcelona, they will have recaptured a fortress.
The prime minister is likely to be as nervous on Sunday as the socialist candidate for Barcelona’s mayoralty.
(Photo: Oscar del Pozo/AFP)
Barcelona is not only Spain’s second largest city and an important counterpoint to right-wing Madrid. Sánchez is also hoping for a Collboni victory there because, firstly, it would increase the likelihood that he himself will be re-elected in the winter, and secondly, he might hope that the Catalan Socialists will soon be elected to the regional government of the Generalitat collect. They are currently supporting the left-wing Republican minority government there. Catalonia would finally be at peace and the head of government in Madrid would have one less problem.
But Sánchez and Collboni cannot be too sure of a socialist electoral success on Sunday. The polls predict a very close result in Barcelona: Jaume Collboni is level with both incumbent Ada Colau and junts man Xavier Trias. Each of the three most promising candidates would need a coalition partner. But if Collboni no longer wants to help Colau into office, all he can do is team up with Trias – or hope that he is so clearly ahead of Colau that she makes him mayor. Then the mayor and her previous deputy swapped places.
Colau’s idea of the “Superblocks” is now being imported to Berlin
But polls are not election results, and in the television debates, according to many observers, Ada Colau fared significantly better than her challengers. After all, she also has a lot to show for herself in her own eyes: During her tenure she managed to contain tourism (well, it was also the pandemic), to make the city greener in places (although there is still a lot of room for improvement) and to calm traffic in some districts – after all, this is a model project with international appeal.
These so-called “superilles,” the traffic-calmed super blocks that are currently being imported into Berlin under the name “Kiezblocks,” are one of the hot topics in the election campaign. It clearly shows where the fault lines between the candidates run. For Colau, the super blocks are a success story. It began in the summer of 2016 with a first attempt in the Poblenou neighborhood. Through traffic was blocked, streets from then on belonged primarily to pedestrians and cyclists, and new green spaces were created. A first experiment resulted in six super blocks, which are spread across the city and are to be gradually connected to one another by so-called “green axes”.
In doing so, Colau tackled one of Barcelona’s major problems: the city, along with Paris and Athens, is one of the three most densely populated areas in the European Union, there is a shortage of greenery, and traffic threatens to suffocate the inner city districts every morning and evening. Colau leaves no doubt that she intends to continue and expand her project should she be re-elected.
A hot campaign topic are the “superilles”, traffic-calmed sections introduced by Ada Colau. Not everyone at Barcelona considers them an asset.
(Photo: Josep Lago/AFP)
But not everyone likes superblocks. Eva Parera, the top candidate of the liberal formation Valents, railed that nobody asked for this project, that it created traffic problems and that it cost 53 million euros in tax money. “It’s also the perfect excuse to do what Comú loves to do: ban and regulate.” Junts candidate Xavier Trias speaks out in a similarly determined manner against traffic calming. Colau achieves one thing above all: the complete collapse of the city’s traffic.
Will Collboni benefit from the Scholz effect?
And what does Jaume Collboni say, who, as a socialist, has also committed himself to climate-friendly politics? He sees Barcelona’s transport salvation in a greater spread of e-cars and thus avoids the question of how to create more space for pedestrians and cyclists in the narrow city center. The main thing is not to hurt anyone.
The example shows how difficult it is for Collboni to position himself on the left in this election campaign, but by no means as far to the left as Ada Colau. And how challenging an election campaign is that you started as a junior partner of the incumbent. After all, he can’t condemn everything that the previous mayor has done. In this respect, Collboni actually resembles Olaf Scholz. Because Scholz, as a candidate for chancellor, first had to get rid of the image that after eight years of grand coalition, the SPD was forever a junior partner of the Union. He succeeded in emancipation. This Sunday will show whether Collboni can benefit from the Scholz effect – the promise of a new beginning with continuity.