BarcelonaThe President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, signed a government agreement on Monday that formally initiates the countdown to the consultation on the Winter Olympics. In fact, there will be two consultations that have finally been announced for July 24 – the day after the thirtieth anniversary of the inauguration of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. The first, which will be binding, will take place in the six counties that make up the vegueria of the Alt Pirineu and Aran (Val d’Aran, Alta Ribagorça, Pallars Jussà, Pallars Sobirà, Alt Urgell and La Cerdanya), which are the ones that the Generalitat had insisted that they would be the only ones to be consulted. “Should the Government nominate for the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games?” Will be the question to be answered. The second consultation, which will take place on the same day, will address the citizens of Ripollès, Solsonès and Berguedà: “Should your region be involved in the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games project?”. This second consultation will not be binding when deciding whether or not to apply, but to establish technical and training centers in these counties. The decree that will start the organization of the consultation will be signed at the end of May.
“Without the High Pyrenees and Aran there is no candidacy. They are the epicenter,” said the Minister of the Presidency, Laura Vilagrà, who appeared at a press conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Victòria Alsina, to announce the two queries and advance some technical details. Finally, the counties of Solsonès, Ripollès and Berguedà are added, although their opinion will not count towards deciding whether Catalonia will try to host the 2030 games. After weeks of talks with the territories involved, but also between government partners , the executive has decided to leave them halfway and allow them to decide only if they want to get involved in some way in the candidacy.
Consultation questions
The two options and the counties where the referendum will be held
“Should the Government nominate a candidate for the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games?”
“Should your region be involved in the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games project?”
“Should the Government nominate a candidate for the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games?”
“Should your region be involved in the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games project?”
“Should the Government nominate a candidate for the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games?”
“Should your region be involved in the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games project?”
Who can vote?
To circumvent the restrictions imposed by the Constitutional Court on non-referendum consultations, the executive proposes that people over the age of 16 who prove at least one year of continuous residence in the county vote. About 55,000 people from the High Pyrenees and Aran will have the last word on the presentation of the Olympic candidacy. In Solsonès, Berguedà and Ripollès, some 63,000 people could take part in the second consultation. Barcelona has been ruled out, although it should host ice hockey, because, according to Vilagrà, the Olympic Games would not have a significant impact on a city accustomed to major sporting events.
Idescat will draw up the register of participants (no census will be taken precisely because of the problems it may entail) and it will not be possible to vote online or by post. “It will not be possible to vote telematically on an issue of logistics, deadlines and more indirectly of the increase in associated costs. In Catalonia today we do not have a good legal framework for participatory processes,” said Alsina, who said that work will be done. in a law of participation that orders the map to make inquiries more comfortable and easy. ” According to her, “the formula with the least risk of challenge” has been chosen.
There will be 121 months in the High Pyrenees and Aran and 137 in the other three counties. The counting of votes will be done jointly for the High Pyrenees and Aran (therefore, not by counties or municipalities) and separately in the case of Solsonès, Ripollès and Berguedà, and the Government has decided not to impose any minimum participation.
The organization of the consultations will cost 1.1 million euros, not counting the promotion and dissemination campaign that the Generalitat will carry out, which will also promote a commission of control over the consultations and will have the legal services ready in the face of any possible challenge.
Problems with Aragon
The name of the candidacy is not yet closed. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether Barcelona will be added and whether Catalonia will share prominence with Aragon. The President of Aragon, Javier Lambán, refused to sign the technical proposal that was validated by the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) last week and the final agreement between governments is still up in the air. Vilagrà explained that they have not had contact with Lambán again, but with the president of the COE, Alejandro Blanco, whom he called this Monday morning to explain that he would make the terms of the consultation public. The COE was in favor of a non-binary consultation on the candidacy of the Games, as it will eventually be. Vilagrà also called the CUP and the government informed the municipalities and also the mayors of the municipalities affected by the consultation. Prior to the press conference, the presidents of the county councils were informed in a meeting with the Minister of the Presidency.
With regard to the technical proposal with Aragon, the Government understands that it is “closed”. “We are not open to negotiating anything else,” Vilagrà stressed, despite Lambán’s refusal to join the agreement. The minister also explained that they were not willing to ask a question that was not clear and that in no case would the result change the strategy of the Generalitat for the Pyrenees: “This strategy is not directly linked to the Games. Although there is no Games, the Pyrenees is a territory that needs to update services and infrastructures “.
The reactions
To comply with the consultation law, the government, which has already signed the technical agreement, will maintain neutrality during the election campaign, which is expected to last fifteen days. Yes, the political parties will be able to do it. ERC has already announced this Monday that it will do so. “It is an opportunity to strengthen and revitalize the Pyrenees,” said Marta Vilalta. The announcement has not been so well received by the commons or the CUP. The spokesperson for Catalunya en Comú, Joan Mena, has considered “a contempt for Berguedà, Solsonès and Ripollès” the fact that their opinion is not binding and the deputy cupaire Eulàlia Reguant has criticized that it has not been presented “a closed Olympic project, no environmental reports, no budget “. As for the PSC, it maintains its opposition to the consultation because it considers that “games must be played, there is no alternative”, in the words of Lluïsa Moret. For now, the Socialists rule out campaigning for the yes.
Opposite the games is the Stop Games platform. “They place the consultation in the middle of the holidays, when the Pyrenees will be empty of its inhabitants, who are the ones we have to decide on the project.” The platform’s spokesman, Bernat Lavaquiol, has criticized the fact that it is not possible to vote online, that all the details of the project are not yet available and that there are counties that cannot decide “on an equal footing”. The mayor of Berga has also criticized the consultation, while the presidents of the county councils of Solsonès, Ripollès and Berguedà have approved it.
In this sense, the presidents of the councils of the High Pyrenees and Aran already warned Aragonès last week that with the technical project completed they did not see the need for consultation, and also warned of the risks of a binary question. Once announced that it will be yes or no, some of them see it as a “danger” for the continuity of the candidacy. “We are out of time, this question would have made good sense at the time,” says Martí Riera, president of the Alt Urgell county council. “There is still a lot of information missing so that this consultation has a result that adapts to reality,” said Carlos Isús, president of the council of Pallars Sobirà.
