Last minute twist installs a new mayor in Barcelona

Jaume Collboni will lead the Catalan capital, as the candidate proposed by a leftist pact

On Saturday, the new mayor of Barcelona was sworn into office and held a speech promising to work for the benefit of the city and its residents. That mayor’s name, however, is not Xavier Trias, the “independentist” winner of the recent local elections, but one Jaume Collboni. The late switch was possible after outgoing mayor Ada Colau decided to rile up the opposition and form a left-wing pact to combine the strength of like-minded parties in the new city council and nominate a different candidate.

The Socialist Jaume Collboni also received support from the normally rival conservative People’s Party, seemingly in a bid to dislodge the chance of Barcelona being headed by a Catalan nationalist and separatist-minded mayor.

The decision also boosted the Socialist Party (PSOE) of PM Pedro Sanchez, who leads the national government, after mostly poor results in local elections around Spain on 28 May. The hard electoral beating prompted Sanchez to bring forward the upcoming national elections to 23 July (from December), in an attempt to salvage some political strength.

What will this mean for Barcelona?

The decision to support the Socialist Collboni, however, was also explained as a way to counteract the power of business lobbies, citing fears that has Xavier Trias become mayor that would’ve led to opening the city to further tourism development.

Ada Colau, mayor of the city for the past eight years, was known for trying to curb the spread of mass tourism, hotels and short-term rentals and instead promote the development of social housing and keeping the community spirit in the neighbourhoods.

In his investiture speech, the new mayor expressed his desire for Barcelona to become a benchmark in the fight against climate change, health, but also economic issues, and affirmed that the city must advance in decarbonization urgently for the sake of the economy while ensuring that no one is left behind. 

"Without new inequalities", he said, "without new exclusions, without an agenda of impositions, a green transition with a red heart."

Jaume Collboni will also enter the history books as the first openly gay mayor of the Catalan capital.