The independence movement loses control of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce. Va d’empresa, the candidacy led by the former CEO of DKV Seguros Josep Santacreu, has obtained the majority of the members in the composition of the new plenary session of the entity, surpassing Eines de País, the list promoted by the Catalan National Assembly ( ANC) that four years ago won against all odds.
In the absence of confirmation of the results by the Central Electoral Board, Va d’empresa, with 26 representatives, prevails over Eines de País, with 21. Santacreu also has the support of five independent electors, among whom include Banco Sabadell and Saba. His list had the backing of businessmen and managers such as Eloi Planes (Fluidra), Emili Rousaud (Factorenergia), Josep Ametller (Casa Ametller) or Juan José Brugera (Colonial). The Ibex real estate company, however, did not obtain representation.
One of the flags of the former DKV director since he proclaimed that he would attend the election with the polls has been the promise to “depoliticize” the Barcelona corporation after the mandate chaired, first, by Joan Canadell (today a Junts per Catalunya deputy in the Parlament) and, since 2021, by Mònica Roca, who yesterday managed to maintain her membership, unlike Canadell. The proclamation of the new president will take place in a plenary session that must be held before November 15.
With these elections, in which 2.8% of the census participated (the maximum registration was 4.1% in 2019), the composition of the plenary session for the next four years begins, which on this occasion has 12 more members elected by suffrage, going from 40 to 52 after the controversial suppression, during the last term, of 12 of the 14 silver chairs (the places reserved for large companies through financial contributions). Currently, those two seats are empty.
Six of the 60 seats in the plenary correspond to the employers’ associations. This year, the two large Catalan business organizations, Foment del Treball and Pimec (the entity that represents SMEs and the self-employed) have agreed to share those seats equally, whose candidates, already known, will be proclaimed members within a month. Their votes, in all likelihood, will increase support for Santacreu.
Last May, the Department of Business and Labor of the Generalitat published the decree that regulated these elections. Among other measures, the Government eliminated the delegated vote and established a double authentication system to provide greater legal security to the voting process.
With these changes, the Catalan Executive intended to overcome the problems detected in 2019, which ended with several challenges before the Court and the invalidation of the previous decree by the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia, although this did not entail changes in the institution.
The members of the plenary session are distributed among 14 headings (sectors such as construction, industry, commerce…) that have a number of members ranging from one to 12 depending on their economic weight.
The members of the plenary session will now be in charge of choosing the new president of the corporation and the other 11 members of the executive committee, the management body of the Chamber made up of three vice presidents, a treasurer and seven members.
The voting process began on Friday in its telematic mode, which lasted until Tuesday. This option had a participation of 12,666 voters out of the total of 491,052 natural or legal persons who make up the census by carrying out commercial, industrial, service or shipping activities and having their registered office or tax address in Barcelona.