LIVING

In the last municipal elections, there was no outright winner (likely to be the case again this time), with the two main parties, Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC) and Convergencia i Unió (CiU) losing seats, and smaller parties (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) and Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds (ICV)) benefiting. The result was a continuation of the left-wing coalition between the PSC, ERC and ICV. But PSC had the greatest number of seats, so its candidate (and the incumbent), Joan Clos, remained on the job as mayor. When he was chosen by Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to be Minister of Industry last September, the role of alcalde was handed to Socialist Jordi Hereu. These elections then will not only be an opportunity for voters to pass judgement on the past four years, but also to actually vote (or not) for Hereu.

One thing worrying all the parties is that there could be a significant level of abstention, as seen in the historically low turnout in the 2006 Catalan parliamentary elections. Already one legal change may make some electors feel better represented: in March this year, the Spanish government passed a law setting minimum gender numbers for parties standing in municipalities of more than 5,000 inhabitants. In practical terms this means, amongst other things, that there can be no more than 60 percent of either gender standing for any party.

Jordi Hereu—Partit Socialist Catalunya (left-wing).

Background: This year is Hereu’s 10th in local politics; he’s been councillor for the districts of Les Corts and Sant Andreu. Part of Catalan President José Montilla’s PSC clique.

Record: Anti-system groups have criticised Hereu in his role as head of the Guàrdia Urbana unit that deals with squatters (okupes). However, Hereu received plaudits for achieving peaceful festes in Gràcia in 2006, after two years of trouble.

Manifesto: Hereu has talked about three themes: security, social cohesion, and public services with sustainable urban growth, saying his electoral programme “is based on the realism of the new challenges that cities have to face”. The PSC electoral program talks about strengthening the metropolitan area of Barcelona, creating a single local organisation to manage the services of all the towns there.