The municipal pacts have made the pro-independence parties nervous. In Catalonia, disagreements between pro-sovereignty forces are an added problem to the difficulties in forming local governments. Although they officially proclaim that the national front should be prioritized, in practice this is not the case.. “Each town is different and we cannot avoid local dynamics, in which local leaders know the situation much better and agree with the most similar forces. Except on certain occasions, or when the weight of a locality requires it, the territorial leaders usually have a lot of room for maneuver to agree, ”explains a JxCAT leader.

Hence, there are pacts that clash with the general political positions of the political formations. The ERC management did not miss the opportunity this Monday to reproach the strategy of their pro-independence colleagues from Junts per Catalunya. The spokesperson for Esquerra, Marta Vilalta, blamed the post-convergents for making pacts in town halls with the PSC to kick Esquerra out of some consistories. “Junts prefers to hand over the mayoralty to the PSC instead of joining the ERC and prioritizing independence agreements,” warned the republican leader. The tension is such that Vilalta had no hesitation in accusing the junteros that “while we do positive things to regain confidence, the Junts response is to fight for power and hand over mayoralties to the PSC where Esquerra has won”.

According to the documentation to which El Confidencial has had access, the Republicans manage a list of a dozen and a half town halls (more are being added day by day) where Junts has stolen the mayoralty from the Republicans or is about to do so, according to that list.. It also includes the Tarragona Provincial Council, where ERC has more representatives, but where, according to the Republicans, “the PSC gives the presidency to Junts”. Socialists and post-convergents have eight representatives each, compared to nine from the Republicans and a single deputy from PP and Vox. The presidency, then, depends on a tactical pact between the three big parties. The Republicans consider that the PSC-Junts alliance is an anti-ERC strategy, similar to the pact that the PSC and Junts had in the Barcelona Provincial Council in the last legislature, although on that occasion the Socialists were the party that had the most provincial deputies with difference.

representative squares

But the strategy denounced by ERC includes such important and emblematic squares as Roses, Lloret de Mar, Sitges, Calella or Cervera. In Roses, according to the Republicans, the winning list was ERC, but Junts “gives the mayoralty to the PSC”. In reality, Republicans and Socialists tied for four councillors, while JxCAT got three. Vox and PP got one councilor each and two lists of independents (one close to JxCAT) got two representatives each. The Socialists will govern with the support of Puigdemont's men and the representatives of Gent del Poble.

In Lloret, despite criticism from ERC, the clear winner was the PSC, which swept and obtained eight councilors, compared to four from JxCAT (this party has historically held the mayoralty), three from Tots per Lloret, two from ERC, two more than one list of independents, one of the common ones and one of Vox. In Calella, on the other hand, it was JxCAT who removed six councilors, compared to three from ERC and three from PSC, so the socialists will vote in favor of the representative of the junteros.

In La Bisbal, on the other hand, ERC was the list with the most votes. And, although it had about 150 more votes than the PSC, it equaled it in councilors (four each). JxCAT obtained three, the same as the CUP (the commons obtained one and a list of independents, two). Puigdemont's party elected the Socialists, which is why the Republicans also complain that “JxCAT gave away the mayoralty to the PSC”. A similar situation occurs in Lliçà de Vall, a town near Barcelona, where ERC and JxCAT tied four councilors (Esquerra had 63 more votes than its main opponent) and the PSC, with three councilors, supports the Junts candidate for mayor.

In Dosrius, also near Barcelona, “Junts gives the mayor's office to the PSC”, although on this occasion the Socialists have five councilors, compared to three from ERC and two from Junts (the PP and two independent lists share three more seats). In Calafell (Tarragona), the Socialists are one step away from an absolute majority (they have 10 out of 21 councilors), so Junts will lend them their councilor after signing a governance pact. But the Republicans do not poke their chests for a similar pact, although the other way around, in Reus, where those from Junqueras will vote for a socialist mayor, as the PSC has obtained eight councilors, compared to five from ERC and five from Junts, for example. Another post-convergent list made up of the PDeCAT drew two mayors, who will complete the absolute majority necessary for the PSC to govern in a fiefdom that has traditionally been in the hands of Junts. A similar situation exists in Castell-Platja d'Aro, where the Socialists, with six councilors, will have the support of the four Junts (the plenary session is 17 members) to be able to govern this legislature.

The curious pacts

In Cervera (Lleida), the Republicans also complain that “Junts gives the mayoralty to the PSC and avoids agreeing with Esquerra”. In reality, the Socialists won the elections with five councillors, compared to three from Junts, three from the commons and two from ERC. Despite the protests of Junqueras's men, the support of Puigdemont's men for the Republicans would not have been enough for them to win the mayoralty.

Esquerra includes in the list some pacts that are still curious, such as the one in Calonge (Girona), where JxCAT has six councilors out of a total of 17, while ERC has four, the PSC two, and the rest is shared between them. five different lists in equal parts with one councilor each, including the PP. Given this, the Republicans regret that “Together agrees with the PP and the PSC”. Another apparently unnatural pact for the Republicans is that of Vilafant (Girona), where they complain that there is “a tripartite pact with PSC, Junts and Ciudadanos”. In this town, the PSC took out five representatives, compared to the three of ERC. Junts has a councilor and Ciudadanos, another, who will make the head of the socialist list mayor, with the peculiarity that he is the only representative of Ciudadanos in the entire province of Girona.

The reproaches between Republicans and post-convergents did not prevent a pact, at the last minute, in Ripoll to oust the far-right Catalan party Aliança Catalana, led by Sílvia Orriols, who in 2019 ran for mayor of the also ultra-Front Nacional de Catalunya (FNC).. The ultra force monopolized six councillors, surpassing Junts per Ripoll (3), ERC (3), PSC (2), the CUP (2) and an independent force (1). For the ultra-right to govern in this municipality in the Pyrenees, the president of JxCAT herself, Laura Borràs, was in favor this Sunday of letting the force with the most votes rule “so as not to contradict the popular will”..

The truth is that, with this, Borràs, who is accused that her theories and strategy are getting closer every day to the pro-independence extra-parliamentary ultra-right, questioned the legitimacy of the presidency of the Parliament (presided over by her, despite being the third party with the most votes) or even from the Government (the party with the most votes in the last elections was the PSC, so, according to their reasoning, it should be the Socialists who were in the Palau de la Generalitat).

Her party was quick to disavow her, but her rivals were quick to take their toll on her, starting with ERC. Vilalta herself warned Borràs that if Ripoll did not agree against Aliança Catalana she would be “whitewashing fascism”, letting it be known that the president of Junts was flirting with the extreme right. The spokesperson for Catalunya en Comú, Joan Mena, even called for her dismissal as president of JxCAT for her position on this issue.

The newly appointed president of the Parliament and until recently mayor of Vic, Anna Erra, entered the discussion and was in favor of the local Junts group deciding what to do, in the face of criticism from the other parties, who are calling for a “sanitary cordon” before the extreme right, whatever the sign. It should not be forgotten that Erra was sentenced by the Justice for not allowing the installation of information tents for Ciudadanos in her town, arguing that the theories of the constitutionalist party “clash with the majority public opinion in the city”. Days before, he had denied another information tent from the Escuela de Todos entity because he considered that requesting 25% of the classes in Spanish was “contrary to morality, good civic customs and public order”.. Finally, it was the spokesperson in Congress, Míriam Nogueras, who announced the addition of JxCAT to ERC, PSC and CUP to unseat Aliança Catalana in Ripoll.