Manuel Valls on Barcelona mayor bid: “Count on me”

Manuel Valls, the former prime minister of France, is smoothing the way for the official announcement of his bid for Barcelona mayor as the candidate of Ciutadans, the main unionist party of Catalonia.

Born in the city to a Catalan father and a Swiss mother, Valls has recently become involved in national politics as a strong advocate of Spain's unity and a blatant detractor of the independence bid.

A week after first disclosing his intentions in Spanish TV, he again referred to his bid for office on Monday, at an event organized by the unionist Societat Civil Catalana (SCC) group.