Antonio Balmón (65 years old) has experienced first-hand, as a neighbor and as a politician, the expansion of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, with 3.5 million people, more than 40% of the population of Catalonia. From the command post of the AMB, he manages the entity to supply services to citizens, even if he has to defend the imminent increase in the water bill: “When a fiscal effort is requested, one has to see the result, what cannot be is not asking for it and letting the service deteriorate, as in Rodalies,” he alleges. “That’s treating people childishly.”
Ask. He has been mayor of Cornellà de Llobregat (Barcelona) for 21 years and almost two decades as the highest executive position of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB). Was any past time better?
Answer. Never. Neither personally nor publicly. What is most stimulating and exciting is having your gaze fixed on the horizon.
P. In Barcelona and the metropolitan area, security, housing and tourism are issues that are repeated when citizens reveal the . Was it always like this?
R. Guaranteeing the security of coexistence and personal growth of each person must always be part of the political project. Then, there are things that stand out depending on each moment. Now housing stands out. Being able to have an affordable place to live, whether renting or buying, is a demand of the broadest social classes and if we do not address it correctly it leads to a problem.
P. The Generalitat intends to offer in 2030 and, in the medium term, projects more than with an official protection reserve of between 40% and 50%. The metropolitan area will absorb part of these properties. Are there enough services to serve this new population?
R. These are issues that were already included in the AMB’s forecasts; we have been doing housing policy for years. A territory defends itself in public services if it has inhabitants, because if it does not, public services move to another place. Education or health are well dimensioned, although there may always be specific tensions. What is important to focus well on is mobility.
P. As?
R. In the metropolitan area of Barcelona it is ahead of the railway.
P. Isn’t that a counter speech?
R. Rail mobility is being improved, with the entire Rodalies network being updated, but expanding it is a matter of years, if not decades. We cannot resolve the demand we have today by providing a solution ten years from now. Rodalies is going to improve, I have no doubt about that.
P. Between 2018 and 2024, trains have seen a loss of 42,000 passengers on weekdays.
R. but to alleviate the collapse of mobility, quick solutions are needed and that is only possible by incorporating more intercity buses. Because they do not require more infrastructure, engineering projects or an increase in resources that, in many cases, entail time margins that would mean that part of the population that needs these solutions today may already be retired.
P. Doesn’t increasing bus service increase emissions and congestion at the entrances to the big city?
R. You have to know how to weigh social sustainability and environmental sustainability, in this order. If we have to respond to a social demand, which also affects the economy of many people, we cannot put solutions into place for ten years.
P. Does the debt carried by TMB hamper investment capacity?
R. It is around 350 million, but it is not the burden, it can be endured. What hinders are the bonuses. They promote the use of public transportation but make it difficult to grow and innovate. If a part of the resources is allocated to bonuses, it is clear that that part cannot be dedicated to investing.
P. At the mobility level, it is also surprising that the integration that does occur with the train or the bus does not exist with public bicycles, and that you need to hire another service if you need to move around the metropolitan area.
R. Administrations are limited by our contractual relationships. At a certain point these contracts will expire. In the next mandate, starting in 2027, there will have to be a single metropolitan bike service, managed by the metropolitan area.
P. In relation to the perception of insecurity, is this an opportunity for the extreme right to gain electoral space?
R. Fear generates uncertainty, and that affects us all, but we must combat hypercharged stories that help give an erroneous perception of security. When you look at the data, we live in pretty safe spaces. In a community you have to be tough against those who do not fulfill their obligations, because they break the rules of respect that we have. And I don’t care about their origin, the color of their skin or the language they speak. I do not like that a minority can distort the coexistence behaviors of a large majority and that must be addressed.
P. Does that mean it’s not being addressed?
R. When those of us who exercise public power are not useful, we create a space for the extreme right to grow. I want to face a fight that is not aimed at fighting against a certain political force, but at questioning why a left-wing force does not address the causes that, at a certain moment, citizens feel attracted to these extreme right-wing forces.
P. And do you know how to do it?
R. With demagoguery you get nowhere, and those of us who exercise public responsibilities have to make it clear that we are not going to make it easy for those individuals, minorities, who try to affect our daily lives. And I also defend that they do not have to share with us the rules of the game of our well-being policy.
