Martí Secures Candidacy
Jordi Martí Wins Junts Barcelona Primary, Signaling a Challenge to Puigdemont
Jordi Martí Galbis will be the Junts per Catalunya candidate for Barcelona's 2027 municipal elections after winning the party's internal primary with 40.29% of the vote. The city councillor, backed by former mayor Xavier Trias, beat rival Victòria Alsina — who got roughly 35% — in a vote that saw 62% of the Barcelona membership turn out, according to La Vanguardia.
The result is being read as a clear signal to Carles Puigdemont and the party's central leadership in Waterloo. By choosing Martí over Alsina — seen as closer to Puigdemont's hardline independence agenda — the Barcelona base picked local pragmatism over national confrontation, according to El Periódico.
Trias Backs Martí and Shapes the Race
Xavier Trias, who won the 2023 Barcelona elections but was blocked from the mayoralty by a last-minute pact between the PSC, BComú, and the PP, threw his full support behind Martí. He called him "the mayor Barcelona needs to recover its prestige," according to La Vanguardia. That endorsement carried enormous weight inside the party's local structure.
Martí is Trias's long-time deputy and current spokesperson for Junts in City Hall. His victory speech left no doubt about his priorities. "We are the party of Barcelona first," he said, "and our strategy will be decided here, in the streets of this city," according to Ara.
Alsina's Defeat Weakens Puigdemont's Barcelona Influence
Victòria Alsina, a former Minister of Foreign Action under the Aragonès government, ran as the more internationally minded and pro-independence candidate. She was widely seen as the choice favored by Puigdemont's inner circle, even though he stayed publicly neutral. Analyst Enric Sierra described his silence as a sign of preference for Alsina's fiercer independence stance, according to La Vanguardia.
Alsina accepted the result and offered to cooperate. "We have shown that there is a desire for a new, more modern Junts," she said, according to El Periódico. But her defeat leaves Puigdemont's wing with less leverage inside the city's most important Junts federation ahead of the party's next National Congress.
'Triasism Without Trias' Targets the 2027 Vote
Junts won 11 council seats under Trias in 2023. Polling from May 2026 puts Martí on track for 10 to 12 seats — a stable base, according to GAD3 and Metroscopia tracking cited by El Nacional. The PSC, which runs the city under Mayor Jaume Collboni, sees Martí as a "predictable opponent" open to budget deals, according to sources cited by SER Catalunya.
Martí has not ruled out a pact with the PSC after the 2027 vote — a sharp break from the anti-socialist rhetoric of Junts's central executive. His plan is to act as a "man of government" for the rest of this term, offering stability pacts with Collboni on infrastructure to prove he can govern, according to Ara.
Opposition Parties Frame Martí as Familiar Foe
BComú, the party of former mayor Ada Colau, wasted no time attacking. They called the victory "the return of the 3% right-wing," linking Martí to old corruption scandals tied to the CDC era that predated Junts. The PSC stayed quiet, privately viewing Martí as easier to negotiate with than a more ideologically rigid Alsina would have been.
In the Spanish-language press, the coverage split along expected lines. El País focused on the internal rift, calling it "a defeat for the hardline sector." El Nacional praised the process as proof of Junts's "democratic health." ABC and El Mundo both noted that despite Martí's moderate image, he remains committed to Catalan independence.
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