The PSC, with Sílvia Paneque as the lead candidate, won the last municipal elections in Girona in 2023 but was displaced by an unusual government agreement between Guanyem (CUP’s brand), Junts, and ERC. The pro-independence unity had already been broken for years in the Parliament, and Girona was then elevated to the status of a stronghold. The complicity, if there ever was any, blew up in July when Junts abandoned the municipal government citing “accumulation of breaches.” Mayor Lluc Salellas navigated the crisis by agreeing on the new budget with the socialists in exchange for five commitments. The situation has plunged Girona into electoral uncertainty, heightened by the resignation of the ERC mayor after a private audio was leaked in which he criticized the party.
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“We have to prove that the pro-independence government agreement can and knows how to work,” said Salellas after being sworn in. The pact has derailed nine months before the elections but, despite the reproaches, the mayor does not close the door to a future agreement with Junts in the next term. Meanwhile, the PSC has returned to the starting grid after being unseated by the three-way pro-independence agreement. Three years ago, PSC and Guanyem tied with eight councilors each, but the former obtained 826 more votes. The socialists regretted the sovereignist alliance – “It is not reasonable to experiment,” said Paneque – and used the case to justify their anti-independence pact in Barcelona to remove Xavier Trias, the election winner, from the mayoralty and promote Jaume Collboni with the support of the PP.
The situation has changed: Junts left the government and the PSC abstained in the Plenary vote on the new municipal budget in exchange for preserving Parc Jordi Vilamitjana, building the Provincial Archive in Fontajau, guaranteeing the future of Truffaut, improving the cleaning service, and renovating Creu Street. “Institutional responsibility leads us to seek agreements for the common good. The budget is the starting point for stability to tackle pending projects in Girona. It is a good deal for everyone,” stated the PSC online.
The unexpected turn has meant that the upcoming elections are shrouded in suspense. The unknowns follow one another: it is not known if Paneque – “I am focused on being a councilor and not on being a candidate,” she said in July – will leave the Government to run for mayor; the role Carles Puigdemont might play in his city, possibly already amnestied by then; the delicate situation of ERC; or if the pro-independence pact is renewable.
The last time Girona had to choose a mayor, the city was basking in a cloud of popularity and admiration. To the natural charm of its Cathedral, the Barri Vell, or the image of the houses over the river, was added the global projection ensured by the Celler de Can Roca and the fame for having achieved, in just six hours difference, the promotion of the city’s two teams to the first division of football and basketball. The good star remains, threefold, in the Roca establishment, but the downward trend prevails in the city with nine months left before the polls reopen.
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The government led by Salellas has suffered serious image and credibility wear due to the fiasco of a flashy plan to sort garbage and waste, with supposedly smart containers. Additionally, some positions clashing with the ideology defended by their formation have surfaced, such as when they questioned whether Girona should host a center for homeless people. According to the Generalitat, Girona is the municipality in Catalonia with the greatest socioeconomic imbalance between neighborhoods. A condition the city shares with Badalona, where the PP governs with Xavier Garcia-Albiol.
Junts, represented by former councilor Gemma Geis, has spent three years in the government team but faces the final stretch before the elections distancing itself from the management deployed in the city council. Within the party, there are critical voices against Geis for taking too long to break ties with Guanyem-CUP and ERC. Moreover, the former councilor also carries the burden of having been the candidate with whom Junts lost Girona, after the successive terms of Carles Puigdemont and Marta Madrenas. The pro-independence party does not control any of the four Catalan capitals, and Girona is considered a favorable place to take power. Despite everything, Geis’s position as lead candidate has not been questioned because she has Puigdemont’s endorsement.
The former president was mayor of Girona despite the fact that, for years, his residence was registered in Sant Julià de Ramis. In that same municipality, about ten kilometers from Girona, remains a councilor who was supposed to be ERC’s mayoral candidate: Marc Puigtió. However, the leak of audios where he is heard disparaging his party colleagues has led to his resignation after ERC opened a disciplinary file against him. The party itself associates his interlocutor in that conversation with the far right.
Puigtió won a primary by only one vote difference, in a tense internal election that dragged a tail of suspicions and challenges. With Puigtió sidelined, Esquerra is temporarily left without a mayoral candidate and must find a new leader with a very divided local executive. According to information from the Diari de Girona, in three days Puigtió managed to increase ERC’s membership base in Girona by 22 new members, resorting to direct relatives, acquaintances, and people from his environment.
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