Valls urges unionist coalition to win Barcelona election

France's former prime minister Manuel Valls has called for a multi-party platform encompassing unionist forces to win Barcelona's local election next year, thus cooling down the possibility of him joining Ciutadans to run as the party's candidate for mayor.

"I haven't quit a party in France just to join another one," said Valls, born in Barcelona, in an interview with the Catalan public radio. The largest unionist party in Catalonia and winner of last December's election, Ciutadans recently confirmed that Valls had been offered to run in the 2019 election for Barcelona mayor.

"What I'm interested in is an open platform, not belonging to a single party," he said, adding that he is talking with "a lot of people from civil society, business heads, intellectuals."