“I don’t hide my initials, like Mr. Trias does”

BarcelonaJaume Collboni (Barcelona, ​​1969) moves between first and second position in the latest polls. The PSC candidate aspires to become the mayor of Barcelona.

There are polls that place him as the favorite. Does this work for or against you?

— Plays in favor of making it easier for voters to decide. we will win We are the progressive alternative to the government of Ada Colau.

Has it worked out for him to leave the government?

— It was an exercise in consistency that everyone was able to understand. To freely explain my project and not to introduce conflict and instability into the coalition.

Does it assume all the government action or only that of its councilors?

— The government’s action belongs to the entire coalition. Another thing is what you are proud of, and what you are not or are against, especially when you are the minority party. I do not share many of the decisions that have been taken in the field of urban planning specifically. I want to change the vision and the way of exercising leadership in the city.

Criticizing Colau, have they gone too far, deteriorating the image of the city?

— I have always told everyone: “Talk well about Barcelona”. You can be critical of who has led the city, it is legitimate, but not attacking the city.

Barcelona, ​​does it have a security problem?

— It has a challenge with security. I will be a mayor who will not deny the problems, even if they are perceptions. My commitment four years ago was to increase the workforce of the Urban Guard by a thousand members, and this year we will reach 3,500. We needed 600 more cops. Well, in agreement with [Salvador] Illa with President Pere Aragonès in February it is recognized on page 14, precisely, that these 600 policemen must be deployed. Having security policies is leftist.

What happens in Bonanova?

— A problem with occupations lingers. There is serious irresponsibility on the part of right-wing and ultra-right groups to use the issue as a lance weapon against coexistence and democracy, because it has no more arguments.

Should they have acted sooner?

— It is in the hands of justice. What the rulers have to say is that we have to comply with the rules, and defend, in this case, the police.

He said the streetcar extension was not urgent and perhaps should not be done in this term.

– Whenever possible. Colau makes these insinuations about our determination to build the tram and the truth is that in 8 years not a single new tram has run through the city. It is now being done with our support, with that of the Government of the Generalitat and, by the way, with that of [Damià] Calvet, which is on Mr. Trias’ list, the connection between Glòries and Verdaguer. The next step is to connect the tram.

Barcelona is a very important chapter for the PSOE campaign. Do you feel the pressure?

— I feel the pressure in the positive sense, of responsibility, that I have with the city. For the PSC, regaining the capital of Catalonia is a great symbol, and for the government of Pedro Sánchez and for the PSOE it is as well. It is also partly to endorse the path of coexistence, and also to claim that the path of dialogue has been taken in Catalonia.

The landing of members of the Spanish government in the campaign is continuous. Is that and the acronym its main asset?

— They are Barcelona’s main asset. When there were socialist presidents it went well, and now it is going very well, because there is recognition of the Catalan institutions, there is cooperation.

Will the counterparty be a lack of freedom to agree? Will he have to do it with the commons?

– No. Pedro Sánchez tells me win and rule. The conditions for making the city governable must be: support for the economic growth model we defend, the guarantee of social policies and loyalty to the State and European institutions.

Do you rule out agreeing with the commons?

— What I will do, when the time comes, is to start conversations in accordance with the three conditions I have indicated to you.

Being a “progressive mayor”, can you start a negotiation with Xavier Trias?

— Being a progressive mayor means that I am part of the PSC. I don’t hide my initials like Mr. Trias does, who represents a candidacy that hides something or has a big contradiction. Saying that you are not from Junts, but that if you leave, the municipal group will be in the hands of Junts, or saying that you are moderate, but that you will enforce the 1-O mandate, are contradictions that cannot be sustained, but above all they make the candidacy very implausible.

Rule out with Trias?

— What I will do when I win the elections will be to open talks, depending on the election results.

He has a plan for the companies that left Catalonia to return.

— Barcelona must once again be an economic capital, and this is to return to having the headquarters of the companies that left due to the Process. With the dialogue with the State and the Generalitat, I hope we will create the conditions for them to return. He is interested in Catalonia, but also in Spain.

Colau says that covering the Dalt round can only be done with European funding.

— I am surprised that Colau said in a debate that he was in favor of the coverage, and yet in the morning he had presented a plan of green axes where the Dalt roundabout did not leave. The commons have made a speech about pharaonic works and then prioritized making investments in the city center. It is clear that it is possible, Barcelona already did it with the Glòries pact.

ARA subscribers, Neula and Jordi, complain that they have received automated calls from them in Spanish. One of them says it shouldn’t appear in any database.

— It will have to be reviewed. We run a campaign to ask for opinions on the issues. If it were in a smaller town we could do it in person, in Barcelona we have to look for automated mechanisms.

Carles Prades asks: how will gentrification be avoided?

— To begin with, public housing. It’s a very good question because some actions that have been taken have caused green gentrification, for example, the case of Consell de Cent. Does this mean that improvements should not be made to public space? We have to do them, but with a strong policy of sheltered housing, public park.