On January 16, 1899, Santiago Rusiñol's L'alegria que passa premiered at the Teatre Líric in Barcelona. The play, which Dagoll Dagom recently adapted into a fantastic musical, shows the irreconcilable confrontation between the inhabitants of a "vulgar and boring" town and a company of "bohemian and dreamy" artists. Rusiñol depicts the contrast of two radically opposed worlds. Two ways of understanding life. Two diametrically opposed projects that only Joanet, the mayor's enlightened son, knows how to interpret.
In Barcelona, in this electoral campaign, some candidates have also presented us with that same dichotomy. The idea of two irreconcilable cities. Of two paradigms of Barcelona that seem to have no point of union. Two diametrically opposed city models with no possibility of dialogue.
Faced with this debate, of brief tweets and emphatic proclamations, at The New Barcelona Post we have interviewed the different candidates for mayor of Barcelona in a positive and constructive tone. We have spoken, extensively and calmly, about urban planning, mobility, culture, housing, sustainability, governance model, security, public-private collaboration and many other things. We recommend that you read the interviews, if you haven't already.
In all these conversations we have detected many points of union. Many approaches with which, if there is willingness, one can easily agree.
Barcelona, a global city well positioned in the world, needs the next city government to bring joy back to its citizens. To set aside sterile debates and reach out. Municipal politics needs dialogue. To stop making an ideology out of small things to seek points of understanding and weave complicities.
"Municipal politics needs dialogue. To stop making an ideology out of small things to seek points of understanding and weave complicities"In the coming years Barcelona will experience decisive moments. The city will have to face enormous challenges. Challenges in housing, climate crisis and economic recovery.
However, in the coming years Barcelona has opportunities to shine again with its own light. To regain pride, after the complex years lived with a political, economic and health crisis. We will experience the America's Cup, unprecedented urban and mobility changes or the World Capital of Architecture, to name a few examples.
Today it's time to vote. And to do so positively. However, starting tomorrow it will be necessary to open a new political scenario in the capital of Catalonia. A stage of dialogue, empathy, and pact. And above all with a vision for the future. From different political approaches (as it has always been), but with the possibility of building great city consensuses.
We need joy not to pass by in Barcelona, unlike in Santiago Rusiñol's town.
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