The end of the symbolic "Change Mayors" of Podemos: goodbye to Ada Colau in Barcelona and 'Kichi' in Cádiz
Podemos loses the last two remaining municipal symbols. The shift in power in Barcelona and Cádiz marks the end of the so-called “Change Mayors”, a generation of councilors that emerged from new forces born of the 15-M that Pablo Iglesias turned into the emblem of his formation and the tip of launches for his “assault on the skies” in the general elections, in which the purple leader was very close to managing to give the PSOE a sorpasso.
It was the month of May 2015 when Manuela Carmena rose to power in Madrid, Ada Colau in Barcelona, Pedro Santisteve in Zaragoza, José María González Kichi in Cádiz, and the Mareas in Galicia with Xulio Ferreiro in La Coruña, Martiño Noriega in Santiago and Jorge Suárez in Ferrol.
It was the first and greatest display of power of the so-called “new politics” led by Iglesias. Podemos took advantage of this boom as its letter of introduction to affirm that, in addition to challenging the political system, it could also and knew how to govern. That is why he baptized them as “the mayors of change”. They were his outpost, although technically only Kichi had a party card.. The purples did not include Joan Ribó, councilor of Valencia, in that club of mayors, because Compromís did not come from 15-M and because then this was a party that competed with them for the progressive vote.
Despite being highly media mayors and despite the impact of their proposals, as a laboratory for Podemos' policies, their journey was cut short in a bitter 2019 election.. Only two of all the mayors managed to revalidate a second term: Colau and Kichi. And what happened to the mayoress of Barcelona was a surprise, because she had already shed tears assimilating that she was not going to be able to govern anymore. But unexpected support from the Ciudadanos group in the town hall, led by Manuel Valls, saved her.. All the others fell: Carmena, Santisteve, Ferreiro, Noriega and Suárez.
This Saturday it was the turn of Colau and Kichi to hand over the command baton of their cities. The leader of Barcelona en Comú aspired to a third term and has remained very close to this one, because she has lost the hegemony in space in favor of the PSC by just a handful of votes. Kichi's case is different. He did not appear in the municipal elections of May 28. However, his replacement at the head of the left-wing coalition in the city, David de la Cruz, crashed at the polls.
The two have been victims of a very strong wear and tear in their eight years at the head of their town halls and had lost the gold and freshness with which they arrived at them. Kichi already announced that his step back was to fulfill the promise of spending eight years and then return to his previous life.. As for Colau, his political future is unknown. He will not go on the Sumar lists for the 23-J elections, but his name appears as ministerable in the event that Pedro Sánchez and Yolanda Díaz manage to re-edit the coalition government.
In Barcelona the PSC regains power with Jaume Collboni as mayor. A person who has been fucking with Colau in these years as a result of the municipal coalition pact. As for Cádiz, the change of cycle here is complete, because the city council passes into the hands of the PP with Bruno García as councilor. This June 17 ends an era.