New period of 'dialogue' between Catalan government and Barcelona city council

The new Catalan president, Quim Torra, met on Monday with the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, in what she described as the beginning of a new period of "dialogue" and "de-escalation" in the relationship between both institutions.

The relationship between the two leaders started with some difficulties in May after Colau described Torra as not being "the right candidate" for president because, in her view, he had made some "offensive" and "sectarian" comments against Spaniards. "We would need someone with real capacity for wide-ranging dialogue," she said back then.

Seemingly leaving that chapter behind them, on Monday Colau and Torra discussed together some of the most pressing issues in their agendas, including housing, the refugee crisis or the effects of the Spanish executive intervention in Catalonia's self-government.

Both leaders agreed on the need to address the refugee crisis and will call a summit on the issue soon. "Catalonia and Barcelona have the resources to face the arrival of more migrants," Colau said.

They also discussed a summit on housing, one of the priorities of the Barcelona mayor, who was an anti-evictions activist before running for office. Today, the city council greenlighted an initiative that will see 30% of new building promotions being dedicated to social housing.