This Wednesday, Barcelona City Council approved a proposal in which the signatory parties agree on a “cordon sanitaire” against the extreme right, represented in the council by Vox, which has two of the 41 councilors. The proposal, from the municipal group of the commons in the Presidency commission, has been supported by all parties except Vox and the PP. The idea of former mayor Ada Colau's party was accepted in September, but until now its scope had not been detailed. The common people assure that it is the first cordon sanitaire that has been agreed upon in a large Spanish City Council.
The agreement establishes that the council is an institution “free of hate speech where neither racism nor discrimination of any kind takes place.” And it specifically prevents the presence of far-right parties in the presidencies of district plenary sessions, in plenary commissions, or in future study or investigation commissions. The agreement also provides for “not normalizing or legitimizing the political action of extreme right-wing formations,” which translates into not signing any initiative in the promotion and control part of the plenary sessions, and preventing their initiatives from prospering.
The Barcelona councilor in common, Jessica González, has defended the text and regretted that “the PP sadly did not want to join in.” He has defended an agreement that “aims to prevent hate speech, which discriminates against migrants, the LGTBI community, from having a loudspeaker in the institutions: neither presidencies, nor spokespersons, nor any institutional position from which they can expand their hatred towards the citizenship”. On behalf of Vox, councilor Gonzalo de Oro has stated that initiatives like the one voted for point out: “We are here to work for the people of Barcelona and not to point fingers at anyone, any day they are going to shoot us and it is because of these irresponsible behaviors.” ”.
From the Government, the deputy mayor Maria Eugènia Gay has assured that “hate speech is a threat to democratic values.” And the PP has argued its opposition to the pact in the voice of councilor Juan Milián: “The key question to understand our opposition to this way of doing politics is: who decides what is extreme right or extreme right and is excluded from political life ?”
The text also includes a rule change approved in November that allows institutional declarations, which until now required unanimity, — and Vox had vetoed them regardless of their content — only need the support of a qualified minority. The signatories undertake not to call extreme right-wing groups in work meetings with city entities. The veto of Vox already occurred in the presentation and photo of an agreement to cover the Ronda de Dalt: the two councilors were not invited but ended up joining the event.
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Finally, the agreement plans to apply the Code of Ethics and Conduct of Barcelona City Council, the Municipal Organic Regulations and the Regulatory Standards of the Districts, “with the aim of shielding the City Council, the Districts and all municipal activity from speeches.” of hatred and discrimination.”
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