The Girona City Council has been participating since April in the training program Local Leadership for European Democracy, an initiative by Eurocities with support from the Generalitat de Catalunya to strengthen the capacity of municipal governments in the face of disinformation and the advance of populist and far-right movements.
The initiative presents a paradox for city councils. While local administrations are the closest institution to the citizen, the program starts from the premise that they need to reinforce European tools and alliances to respond to threats that already impact municipal politics.
Girona will work with Oulu for ten months
Girona's participation is channeled through the Gabinet d'Estudis Socials i Europeus, with representation from the deputy mayor and councilor for Talent, Innovation, Health and Community, Xavier Aldeguer Manté, and a technician responsible for European affairs.
The exchange takes place with the Finnish city of Oulu and includes between four and five online meetings. The schedule also includes a trip to Brussels in November and an in-person meeting in Barcelona at the end of 2026.
Xavier Aldeguer Manté framed Girona's entry into the program within the municipality's external projection.
"Participation in this Eurocities training program allows us to continue deepening the European vocation of the city of Girona and consolidate the relationship with other European cities with similar interests through one of the most consolidated and active European city networks at the present time" - Xavier Aldeguer Manté, deputy mayor and councilor for Talent, Innovation, Health and Community, Girona City Council
The city will add a European strategy to two municipal plans
In addition to Girona, the Generalitat has invited six other Catalan cities to join the program through the Department of External Action and European Union. They are Vic, Terrassa, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Rubí, Manresa, and El Vendrell.
The project also includes a group of mentor cities: Oulu, Espoo, and Vantaa in Finland, Cluj-Napoca in Romania, Guimarães in Portugal, and Venice in Italy. The network aims for municipalities to share responses and working methods for common problems.
At the end of the process, each city will develop a municipal European action strategy. In Girona's case, this document will complement the International Relations Strategy and the European Cooperation Master Plan.
Eurocities groups more than 200 municipalities from 38 countries and represents more than 150 million people.