Barcelona renews relationship with Spanish government after decade-long hiatus

Spanish president Pedro Sánchez and Barcelona mayor Ada Colau signed an agreement on Friday that will see closer cooperation between the Spanish government and Barcelona city council, following almost 10 years of poor relations under previous administrations.

It was Sánchez’s second major meeting in Barcelona in two days following his one-to-one with Catalan president Quim Torra.

Historically, in the post-Franco era, Barcelona has enjoyed a close relationship with the Spanish government, especially when both were governed by the Socialists. This agreement will see the two bodies "recover and intensify" a collaborative relationship that stalled when Mariano Rajoy and the People’s Party came to power in Spain in 2011. 

The current make up of the Spanish and Barcelona administrations, with coalitions between the Socialists and anti-austerity Podemos/En Comú Podem, has cleared a path for a better working relationship again.

In its last edition in 2010 the agreement involved an investment of 25.8 million euros.

The document recognises Barcelona as a cultural and scientific capital and states that the Spanish government supports the UNESCO proposal to make Barcelona a host city for the 'Global University Network for Innovation' project of the International Conference on Higher Education, which will be held for the first time outside Paris.

Barcelona a "co-leader"

After a meeting behind closed doors, with Spanish government minister Carolina Darias and Barcelona councilors Jaume Collboni and Joan Subirats also present, Colau and Sánchez spoke to media at City Hall.

Colau urged the need for political stability in Catalonia. "For us it’s very important that we get back to normality," she said. "Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and therefore for us it’s fundamentally important that we see a return to institutional normality, dialogue, and political solutions to political conflicts."

She said the agreement would, "reestablish the city as a scientific and cultural capital."

Spanish president Pedro Sánchez said that "Spain needs a lot more motors of growth," and that Barcelona has a role to play as a "co-leader".

A return to cultural and scientific collaboration between the Spanish government and Barcelona council, as approved several years ago, was "essential", he added.

"A turning point"

On Thursday, Sánchez met Quim Torra and gave the Catalan president a four-page document called 'Agenda for rekindling ties,' which aims to prepare the ground for the "bilateral negotiation table," agreed between the Socialists and Esquerra in return for keeping Sánchez in power.

Colau and Sánchez both spoke positively of the meeting between the Spanish and Catalan presidents in the press conference following their own meeting. Colau praised Sánchez: "I’m especially grateful to the president for his words in public after the meeting with president Torra. I genuinely think it was a turning point, as much in the tone as in the content."

Turning to Sánchez, Colau said "President, Barcelona will be your main ally for this new phase of dialogue".

Sánchez spoke of the significance of his meeting with Torra: "Yesterday we all felt that we were embarking on a new phase in Spanish politics and in Catalan politics."

He said the last ten years had seen "an enormous collective failure" in Spanish politics regarding Catalonia and that the 'Agenda for rekindling ties,' was "not just a piece of paper" but offered "progress and cohesion."