The unknown about Sílvia Paneque and her possible candidacy for mayor of Girona will remain open. The PSC has not clarified if the current Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition and spokesperson for the Government will repeat as head of the list in the next municipal elections, nor has it set a specific date to resolve it. The decision, in any case, will not arrive in June.
The socialist leadership has approved a three-phase calendar to proclaim its municipal candidates. There will be a first round in June, a second in November, and a last in February 2027. Girona is not included, for now, in the immediate resolution.
Girona keeps several key pieces open
The future electoral poster in the Gerundense capital is still under construction. Junts has already announced that Gemma Geis will once again be its candidate. ERC, for its part, will position Marc Puigtió as a reference, although it remains to be seen whether he will run under the republican acronym or under the Moviment Gironí brand. It also remains to be seen whether the current mayor, Lluc Salellas, will seek re-election with Guanyem Girona.
In the case of the PSC, the question about Paneque has special political weight. In the 2023 municipal elections, she won the elections in Girona, but did not achieve the mayoralty due to the sum of CUP, Junts, and ERC. Months later, with the arrival of Salvador Illa to the Presidency of the Generalitat, she was incorporated into the Govern, where she assumed a portfolio with top-level issues such as Rodalies and housing.
A calendar thought to leave the mayors at the end
The roadmap approved by the PSC reserves for before the summer the ratification of candidates in municipalities where it does not currently govern or where the aspirant is running for the first time. The proclamations of November and February 2027 will be for those who are already part of municipal governments and for incumbent mayors.
"We believe that our best campaign is to govern, that's why we always leave the mayors for the end" - Direction of the PSC
That scheme also places in the last batch the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, who will be proclaimed in February 2027. It will be his fourth municipal candidacy and the first in local elections from the mayor's office.
More candidacies and alert for the fragmentation
The PSC is also working to expand its territorial presence and surpass the 615 candidacies it presented three years ago. The strategy is part of a priority set since Salvador Illa took command of the party a little over four years ago, with the aim of strengthening local presence.
"We are articulating lists where we didn't have them before, so we calculate being able to present more" - PSC Leadership
One of the examples the party handles is in the Alt Penedès Garraf axis, where it expects to go from 25 candidacies to around 30. At the same time, the socialists consider several recent replacements consolidated in large mayoralties after the departure of local officials to other institutions.
- In Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Mireia González replaced Núria Parlon after her appointment as Minister of Interior.
- In L"Hospitalet de Llobregat, David Quirós took over from Núria Marín, now delegate of the Government in Madrid.
- In Viladecans, Olga Ruiz assumed the mayoralty after Carles Ruiz went on to chair Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat.
- Changes are also cited in Esplugues, Badia del Vallès, Esparreguera, Pineda de Mar and Palafrugell.
The leadership asks for more street in the face of the far right
The socialist leadership has conveyed to its local cadres the directive to intensify proximity action due to concern over the growth of the vote for the far right. The party considers that this advance can complicate the arithmetic of mayoral pacts, especially in cities with high political fragmentation like Barcelona.
"The best way to dismantle it is to be on the street listening and talking with the neighbors to adapt policies to their needs" - Leadership of the PSC
In Girona, meanwhile, the focus remains on Paneque's name. The PSC keeps the decision in suspense and leaves open one of the main unknowns of the municipal board in a capital where the rest of the aspirants are already moving and where the 2023 result still weighs on all strategies.