Colau to back Collboni as mayor of Barcelona, paving way to Socialist government in capital

Acting Barcelona mayor Ada Colau's party, Barcelona en Comú, will back the Socialist candidate, Jaume Collboni, for the capital's top post this Saturday evening – yet, in a statement released 45 minutes before the beginning of the session that will appoint a new mayor, they also say they will stay in opposition.

In a major plot twist in the city, the left-wing political force leading the city for the past eight years paves the way to a Socialist comeback after 12 years.

Collboni needs not only his councilors and En Comú's but also the People's Party's support – the conservatives have been saying in the past few days that they will back the Socialist as long as Colau's group stays in opposition, which is the case.

After Barcelona en Comú's move, the conservatives have yet not confirmed their support for Collboni.

Meanwhile, the man who won the election, pro-independence center-right Xavier Trias, will see his bid frustrated at the eleventh hour partly because the People's Party wants to block a mayor in favor of a Catalan Republic.

Collboni does need both En Comú and the People's Party groups to back his bid in order to bar the 76-year-old nationalist to become mayor against after his 2011-2015 stint in power.

In 2019, a pro-independence mayor was also frustrated when the election winner, Esquerra's Ernest Maragall, saw how Colau, the Socialists and former French prime minister Manuel Valls' group voted together for the reelection of the former.

In their statement published shortly before the opening plenary session in the Barcelona local council, Barcelona en Comú said their nine councilors had "an intense debate" on their stance.

"The decision has been made in order to avoid a Junts government which places red carpets to lobbies and sectors in favor of right-wing policies."

The text also reads that the move was made without any previous agreement with the Socialists "and by no means with the People's Party."

Colau's group made clear that they would be in opposition and will only consider entering the executive "if they can share a cabinet with the other two progressive forces," referring to the Socialists and Esquerra.

"Barcelona en Comú hopes that this exercise of generosity and responsibility with a mostly progressive city helps in the future for an agreement between the three."

Indeed, a few days ago, Colau put forward a plan for which all three left-leaning groups would form a coalition government with a shared mayorship: the first year for Esquerra's Ernest Maragall, the following year and a half for herself, and the last year and a half of the term for Collboni.