The last-minute plot twist has led to a very different ending from what was taken for granted just an hour before the start of the constituent city council meeting to choose the new mayor of Barcelona. When everything seemed done and dusted for the investiture of Xavier Trias with the votes of Ernest Maragall, Barcelona en Comú announced, minutes before the meeting, that it would vote for the candidate of the PSC, Jaume Collboni, without entering the new municipal government itself, exactly the condition that the Popular Party imposed for also voting for the Socialist. Thus, Jaume Collboni has been invested as mayor with his own party's votes, those of the PP and those of Barcelona en Comú, 23 in total, which ensure an absolute majority ahead of Trias's 16.
With this result, a fast track investiture agreement between PSC, PP and BComú has been concluded at the last minute, despite the fact that the Comuns had repeatedly ruled out the possibility of voting in the same direction as the PP. The Comuns themselves have been quick to point out that the vote in favour of Collboni "was taken without any prior agreement with the PSC and in no case with the PP". Be that as it may, the result is that Collboni is now the new mayor of Barcelona, although, at least for the time being, he will have to govern in a minority, with only 10 councillors, one less than the main opposition group, that of the Trias group, based in the pro-independence Together for Catalonia.
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Although the council meeting started about twenty minutes late, probably due to last-minute consultations, events moved quickly and according to the script expected. Councillors Jaume Batlle and Jess Gonzalez administered the meeting. Subsequently, the elected councilors swore or promised allegiance to their position, under various formulas, with the councillors of Trias per Barcelona and Barcelona en Comú doing so "by legal imperative", those of the PSC simply saying they "promised" to be faithful, those of the PP and Vox took a sworn oath, and those of ERC promised "by legal imperative, to serve the citizens of Barcelona, for the rights and freedoms of Catalonia and for social justice".
Jaume Collboni promised his allegiance after being chosen as new mayor of Barcelona
Subsequently, three of the list leaders, Ernest Maragall, Ada Colau and Daniel Sirera withdrew their candidacy, a fact that already indicated that Collboni would obtain the PP and Comuns votes, and thus it was, and in the end, Jaume Collboni received 23 votes, Xavier Trias, 16 and the Vox candidate, Gonzalo de Oro, two. With this vote, Collboni has accepted the mayoralty and has already gone on to preside over the plenary session, with the mayor's armband and staff. Barcelona, once a stronghold of the Catalan Socialists is, twelve years later, again governed by the PSC.