The last municipal election campaign, in May 2023, was immediately followed by another, the general election called by Pedro Sánchez by surprise the day after the vote. In that second electoral race, with the election of the mayors already decided and the baton of the Catalan capital in the hands of the socialist Jaume Collboni, the name of Josep Rius was already circulating as a possible candidate for Junts in the next contest. Three years later, that scenario that was being drawn in the post-convergent circles is closer to becoming a reality.
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The JxCat establishment takes for granted that the party’s vice president and spokesperson is today the one with the most chances of being designated as mayoral candidate.
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In the municipal group, however, things are seen very differently. They have gotten used to living in a minefield, but they would have liked a bit more agility in the decision to be able to focus on opposing a PSC that snatched the mayoralty from Xavier Trias at the last moment, just before the investiture plenary was held. The perspective is different because the president of the bench, Jordi Martí, who was the first to put himself forward as a mayoral candidate, has not given up. In conversation with this newspaper, he shares his respect for the decision made by the party executive, but argues that his desire to be the lead candidate in the municipal elections remains intact. “I remain firm in my decision,” he summarizes. And he recalls that if there is more than one candidate, Junts has the “political obligation” to call primaries.”
One of Martí’s main assets, besides a consultation with members that could be favorable to him, is the support of Trias, who at the time already pointed to him as his successor when he left the City Council in July 2024. The former mayor, in fact, has publicly ruled out some of the names that have been mentioned in recent months, although he has not commented on the possible candidacy of Rius.
In any case, various sources consulted take it for granted that the balance is tipping in favor of Rius and point out that, although the equation has not yet been resolved and the risk of an internal vote has not been cleared, the situation will become clear in the coming weeks. Everyone assumes that Rius, a leader close to Carles Puigdemont – he was his chief of staff when he was president of the Generalitat – will head the JxCat list within a year, although it remains to be seen what role Martí will play in all this. It would be strange for him to be on the same list, notes a prominent JxCat voice in the municipal sphere.
The schedule
The JxCat leadership tries to avoid an internal vote and wants to settle the matter before summer
Although it seems that light is beginning to be seen at the end of the tunnel, there is a feeling in JxCat that it is late. In addition, there is some frustration about how the process has been, in which there has been a shuffle of names, with former president Artur Mas, former minister Joaquim Forn, or businessman Tatxo Benet involved. The trial balloons sent to each of them have returned to the hands of the JxCat leadership without an affirmative response. “We have made a bit of a fool of ourselves,” says a source consulted.
The secretary general of JxCat, Jordi Turull, said in April, at an informative breakfast, that the party president, Puigdemont, and he himself would make a proposal to the Barcelona federation before summer. The obsession of the post-convergent leadership has been at all times to avoid a confrontation between Rius and Martí in primaries that, in their opinion, could sow division within the organization in a very important place, since it is the most high-profile in the municipal campaign. That is why a third way was sought to avoid the internal struggle. Under pressure from the schedule, Turull deflects by recalling that Trias was designated candidate six months before the elections. But the scenario is now different.
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The role ahead for Rius, if elected, will not be easy. Trias won the elections but did not repeat as mayor after the agreement between the PSC, the commons, and the PP. His figure, capable of bringing together the sovereignist vote with that of the elites, is unrepeatable and the forecasts today are not so good. One of the aspects highlighted by Rius’s supporters (52 years old) is that he is younger than Martí (65 years old) and although he may fail now, he has room to build a future project, as happened with Trias in his day. “In the absence of a white crow, he is the best option,” opines, in that sense, a source consulted. Another leader also emphasizes that he is a party man, aligned with the leadership. So much so that in all these months, both publicly and privately, Rius has kept a scrupulous silence that he still maintains when this matter comes up. He always tiptoes around it.
It is not trivial. It is not the first time it has been taken for granted that Rius will be the mayoral candidate. Therefore, everything is prudence and caution while, away from the spotlight, a delicate balancing act is being made so that nothing breaks. Not long ago, at the end of 2024, there was also a rumor within JxCat that Rius, who in addition to being a councilor is a member of the Parliament, would leave his seat in the Catalan Chamber because he was going to be designated as mayoral candidate in a few weeks.
The schedule imposed by the organization then, however, was left on paper and more than a year has passed with several names on the table, although both Rius and Martí, who has resisted so far, despite the siren songs, leaving the presidency of the municipal group in exchange for other promises, have always been in the background. In this whole matter there have also been other names such as former health minister Josep Maria Argimon, or former deputy and lawyer Jaume Alonso Cuevillas, who publicly offered himself a few weeks ago, appearing without ever having the main role.
A year before the ballot, Junts and Vox are the only parties with representation in the plenary that still do not have a candidate. Waiting at the starting line, in addition to Collboni, are Gerardo Pisarello (Barcelona en Comú), Elisenda Alamany (ERC) and Daniel Sirera (PP). Aliança Catalana, which polls give some seats in the City Council plenary, cannot find a candidate.
A convention marked by
the Champions League
On May 30, Junts will hold – probably in Vilafranca del Penedès – a municipalist convention that had also been planned for May 9 in Martorell, but the schedule and the spaces for the conclave did not fit. The date of May 30 was chosen from the beginning… although May 9 was chosen due to the optimistic forecast that Barça would play the Champions League final on the last Saturday of the month. That was not the case and the initial plan was resumed. JxCat’s will is to have the Barcelona file closed at that summit.
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