Ex-French PM strives to unite Barcelona

IT HAS been a busy week for Manuel Valls. Waved off from the French parliament to both applause and jeers, the former prime minister arrived in Barcelona to begin his battle to become mayor amid tumult in Catalan politics.

With warnings and ultimatums flying between Madrid and pro-independence leaders, Mr Valls stepped into the fray with an appeal to Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, to support his May 2019 mayoral bid in order to prevent the separatists taking hold of the Catalan capital.

The French political veteran, who also holds Spanish nationality, highlighted his Left-wing credentials as he suggested he was the candidate to “take back Barcelona”.

“If Sánchez does not want [current mayor] Ada Colau to continue and he does not want the separatists to win in Barcelona – well, here is a candidate who comes from the Socialist family, who is from the Left,” he told the Spanish radio station Onda Cero on Friday.

Mr Valls, whose father is Catalan and who was born in Barcelona during a family holiday, has been criticised by opponents for “parachuting” into the race following four decades in French politics. A vocal critic of the Catalan independence drive, he is running as an independent, but hopes to unite pro-union parties on the Left and Right behind his high-profile campaign, which has been supported by the centre-Right party Ciudadanos.

While Mr Sánchez has not responded to his appeal, his Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party has previously rejected the idea of joining the ticket.

Mr Valls’ call for Left-wing backing follows a turbulent week in Catalonia, with protests surrounding the anniversary of the Oct 1 referendum last year, and tensions in the Catalan parliament over attempts to delegate the votes of jailed separatists.

The Catalan president, Quim Torra, also threatened to withdraw support for Mr Sánchez’s minority government if a referendum is not agreed within a month, which would trigger national elections in Spain, plunging the constitutional crisis into further disarray.

Mr Valls advocates a harder line on Catalonia than Mr Sánchez, who is betting on negotiations to overcome the crisis. “I understand the posture of dialogue, but this is a dead end,” he said. “The independence movement has failed, but the fracture continues.”

An alliance may also be hampered by the alleged far-Right links of Mr Valls’ campaign adviser, Josep Ramon Bosch.