Elisenda Alamany (Sabadell, 40 years old) is the president of the ERC municipal group in Barcelona City Council, a position she assumes after the departure of the veteran Ernest Maragall. Despite the division in the Barcelona federation of the party, she assures that the five councilors “pull in the same direction” and sets the goal, after losing half of the councilors in the last elections, to rejuvenate the electorate. In the midst of Mayor Jaume Collboni's negotiations to form a government and approve the budget, Alamany is convinced that the socialist has chosen to ally with Junts and has ruled out repeating with the commons as partners.
Ask. ERC has gone from winning the elections in 2019 to sinking in 2023 and having only five councilors. What self-criticism do they do?
Answer. First, we were very generous to the city. And we were punished by having to approve the municipal budget [después de que el PSC apoyara el de la Generalitat]. This left us in a situation in which people were not clear whether we had been the opposition or the government in the city, and faced with polarized elections between Ada Colau and Jaume Collboni. In this scenario we had little to offer. We want to reconnect again with the concerns and desires of the people of Barcelona. ERC in Barcelona has to be more than an independence party in the capital of Catalonia. It has to be a party that speaks to my generation, to young people.
Q. Collboni says he prioritizes a progressive government and they have spoken. What does ERC want?
R. The one who must decide is the PSC. Now you have a weak government [10 de 41 concejales] Junts and the common people are already very desperate to enter the government. For now the PSC looks to the right and to the past, a Government with Junts is going back to the 90s.
Q. Have you considered a minimum agreement with the commons and offering yourself to Collboni with 14 councilors?
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R. My feeling is that the PSC has discarded the commoners. After two failures, and despite the fact that he gave them the investiture. This option is not on the table.
Q. You could act. Do you want to be government or opposition?
R. Esquerra does not renounce being the protagonist, it will be in this mandate. But I am also a realist, I have a group of five councilors and we are not in the pole position of the pools.
Q. He repeats that Collboni looks to the right and that he would not mind being in opposition. But in the last term he assured that in the opposition it is very cold.
R. In municipal politics in the opposition it is very cold, but we are realistic with the results and now we are where we are.
Q. Would it be a real opposition or like in the last term, when they voted for the big projects to Colau and Collboni?
R. The lesson is that, if we are opposition, it will be clear and sharp. For now we have not supported the budget or tax ordinances. We want there to be a real balance between the success of the city and how it impacts its neighbors.
Q. Is Colau a problem to enter the Government?
R. I don't decide. There is a PSC that looks to the right and Junts wants to understand it. I have the responsibility to listen to Collboni and I do, we talk and meet, but the decision is yours.
Q. If ERC remains in the opposition, they will have to compete for the pool of left-wing voters with the common ones. How will they differ?
R. This is another lesson. We will work to have our own profile, there is a space in the generational aspect and in the feeling of dispossession among citizens. In eight years there has been very sensitivity to issues such as tourism or housing but the balance is disastrous. We have 800,000 more cruise passengers, 10% more licenses for tourist apartments and the rental price has increased by 65%.
Q. Could the harmony between ERC and the socialists in Madrid end up landing in Barcelona?
R. All can be. I insist that I do not renounce that Esquerra is the protagonist.
Q. Protagonist from within or from without?
R. Where it is most useful for the city, not for chairs, but to ensure the balance between success and improvement of living conditions.
Q. Colau announced this Saturday that he is staying in the City Council. Does this figure condition his and ERC's prominence?
R. I won't go into what Colau should do. It's your decision. I do believe that the last mandate greatly affects relations with the PSC and his figure could be an impediment for them.
Q. Do you see yourself as a long-term leader or ERC candidate in 2027?
R. The candidacy will be a collective decision, this is not the time to talk about this. I will be available and willing to be where the party believes I am most useful.
Q. Listening to him, it gives the impression that ERC is heading towards the opposition. Does ERC rule out entering a progressive Government with Collboni and the commons?
R. Our group has five councilors. I have the obligation, and the entire organization, to listen to everyone, evaluate all the possibilities and not give up being protagonists. But today we are where we are. And we are in the opposition, and we are likely to stay here.
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