Guanyem and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) now run Girona with 11 of 27 council seats after Junts exited the governing coalition. Vice-mayor Gemma Geis told mayor Lluc Salellas immediately after a tense city council meeting, less than a year before the next municipal elections. The departure ends an agreement in place since June 2023, when Guanyem Girona joined Junts and ERC after the local elections, with Salellas becoming mayor and Geis serving as vice-mayor.
The split follows mounting disagreements within the tripartite government. Junts, which held six council seats and managed basic areas including Economic Promotion and Social Services, as well as the Catalan Language department, had signaled growing frustration in recent days. Over the weekend, Geis published an article saying Junts had “run out of patience.” Opposition parties echoed that sentiment during the council session, directly questioning the coalition’s future.
During the meeting, Geis acknowledged that the 2023 agreement had brought stability and allowed the city to approve budgets. She also defended Junts’ right to reassess its position and pursue what it sees as a better path for Girona. Her remarks pointed to an imminent rupture, confirmed shortly after the session ended. The tension was clear before the meeting began: Geis and Salellas sat side by side but did not greet each other.
Mayor Salellas defended the tripartite arrangement, crediting it with passing annual budgets and advancing major projects, including the new Trueta hospital. Housing investments and urban improvements were also on the agenda. Those achievements did not stop Junts from leaving the coalition. Guanyem and ERC must now govern without a majority and may need new alliances or outside support to maintain stability.
Geis, now acting as Junts’ spokesperson, was expected to give more details on the split at a midday press conference. The city government is left with 11 seats: eight held by Guanyem, which controls the mayoralty, and three by ERC, responsible for areas such as Culture and Sports. In a 27-member council, 14 seats are needed for an absolute majority. The administration’s direction will depend on negotiations with opposition groups and whether it can secure support for budgets and major decisions on an issue-by-issue basis.
The break drew sharply different reactions. The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) called Salellas’ government “failed,” while ERC said Junts’ departure had created “institutional uncertainty.” Salellas accused Junts of acting out of “fear of the far right.” Geis, in turn, called him “personalistic.” The dispute had spread beyond coalition disagreements into a public contest over the government’s stability and political direction.
The rupture also took on an electoral dimension. By late July 2026, Junts and the Partit Nacionalista de Catalunya (PNC) had joined forces in Girona, naming Geis as their prospective candidate for the 2027 municipal election. The alliance said it aimed to broaden the political centre and build an alternative governing project, putting the former vice-mayor at the head of a potential challenge to Salellas’ administration.
That political realignment has since become part of negotiations over Girona’s 2027 budget. On 23 October 2026, Geis made Junts’ support conditional on immediate action to address security and public-space conditions in the Barri Vell. The party called for more police on the Rambla de la Llibertat and regular municipal police patrols. It also sought additional Mossos d’Esquadra resources, alongside a coordinated response to homelessness. Junts further demanded a rapid-response plan to strengthen cleaning services and repair street furniture. The demands show how the party can press for influence over municipal policy from outside the governing team, while the minority administration needs negotiations to advance its budget and priorities.
The coalition’s breakdown less than a year before the 2027 municipal elections could shape Girona’s day-to-day governance and electoral contest. With Guanyem and ERC holding 11 seats, the administration must handle a council where neither its governing agreement nor its former partnership with Junts guarantees a majority. Its immediate political test is to assemble support for budgets and basic projects as Junts builds its alternative campaign.
