Barcelona is an undisputed engine of Spain, but “it has suffered a significant complication with the ‘trials’, the departure of 4,000 companies and a loss of reputation”, recognizes Jordi Valls, fourth deputy mayor who heads the area of Economy, Finance and Economic Promotion of the Barcelona City Council. The councilor highlights the “positive and trustworthy” image that the Catalan capital now generates after overcoming the pandemic and also eight years of “tension and polarization of the previous municipal government, because it prevented reaching agreements,” referring to the time of Mayor Ada Colau.
The resignation of Xavier Trias (Junts), Ernest Maragall (ERC) and the announcement of the upcoming resignation of Ada Colau from the Barcelona City Council place the mayor Jaume Collboni in a “different” scenario, Valls believes. A scenario in which, he warns, “the process is not definitively overcome, because in Quebec (Canada) there have been ten years of rise of the independence movement and another ten years of decline”. In these new circumstances, the head of the Economy, Finance and Promotion sector of the Barcelona City Council This Saturday, he questioned “the actors of the Spanish economic and political sphere who, if they want Barcelona to be closer to Spain, must be more present in the city.”.
The call was launched by Valls through the microphones of the “Converses” program of COPE Catalonia and Andorra, with the participation of ABC, and he extended it to “some of the “The ibex companies, which must be more present in Barcelona as they wish, but not just as another market, because change is a challenge for everyone.”. In this sense, the mayor stressed that “Barcelona is an open city and willing to dialogue with Madrid and the rest of Spain, but I respectfully ask the actors to come here, because the ‘trial’ was badly experienced there and here and it is difficult to return.
Valls recalls that “Barcelona is a city of great economic opportunities, a Spanish scientific capital and an export hub in a Spain that is the fourth economic power of the European Union”. This is why, He stressed that “the economic, social and political power that Spain has would not exist without Catalonia, so it is time for us all to work together.” and gestures and trust are important.
The mayor also assured that Barcelona wants to actively participate in the great debates that are open in Spain and Europe on housing, immigration or tourism. In this sense, he said, in a veiled allusion to some recent words of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, that “Not everything ends up criticizing the Catalan nationalist bourgeoisie. “It is a minimization – he added – and a crude use of not understanding what Spain is.” “If we are Spain, an effort must also be made from Spain,” he said.
As for the expansion of the airport, Jordi Valls was in favour of its implementation “to improve the intercontinental connectivity of Barcelona, mainly with Asia”.but not exclusively to attract more tourists. Regarding the tourist tax, he assures that “the City Council cannot increase it further, because it is already at its maximum”. And he also confirmed that in 2028 “there will be no more tourist apartments in the Catalan capital”. While waiting for this date, Valls said that “we will increase the tax pressure on tourist apartments, because they are economic activities”.
The problem of access to housing has been placed as the great challenge, in Barcelona, Spain and throughout Europe. In this sense, described housing as “the new infrastructure we need” and explained that in the coming years, significant resources will arrive, both from the European Union and from all national administrations, to solve this problem that cannot be solved by the public sector alone. “We need to encourage the private sector, which currently has no incentives”“, he said, announcing that in the coming months the ordinance that requires 30 percent of new homes in Barcelona to be assigned official protection will be modified.
