Xavier Trias, former mayor of Barcelona and leader of the Junts, assured this Monday that the PSOE was involved in the coup led by Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero on February 23, 1981. “I believe that the socialists were behind the coup d’état of 23-F,” explained the Junts councilor in an interview on Aqui Catalunya on Cadena Ser. “They will tell me that I’m stupid, that I’m old, that I say things… But it’s obvious,” he added.
Trias is retiring and announcing he will remain on the city council until at least 2024
Further
Trias’ statements come in the middle of his party’s negotiations about possible mandate agreements with Mayor Jaume Collboni or even a government pact, as well as the talks led by Carles Puigdemont about a possible investiture of Pedro Sánchez.
When asked by the interviewer, who explained that Trias’ words could upset many, the Junts councilor insisted that “no one believes that Mr. Tejero did this, maybe there are still some innocent people who believe that.”
During the interview, Trias also argued that the PSOE intends to slow down regional development after the transition period. “23-F is over, the government has changed and what did the Socialist Party do first? The LOAPA,” said Trias. The LOAPA, Organic Law for the Harmonization of the Autonomous Process, was adopted in 1982 as part of the development of the autonomous state with the intention of homogenizing the powers of the communities and subjecting them to the basic legislation of the state. In 1983, at the request of Basque and Catalan nationalists, the Constitutional Court denied the state this ability to harmonize and limited the scope of the LOAPA.
Bolaños sees “no historical or factual basis”
The Acting Secretary of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, assured this Monday that he sees “no historical or factual basis” in the accusations made by Trias against the PSOE, recalling that the socialist deputies, like the rest of the members of Congress, “were hostages .” “during the attempted coup on February 23rd.
Bolaños made these statements during his visit to Barcelona and together with the government delegate to Catalonia. The minister also expressed his “respect for the political figure Xavier Trias, even when he makes statements of this type”.
The PSC deputy in Parliament, Ferran Pedret, has responded to Trias, calling his words a “disgrace” through a message on his X account (formerly Twitter). “The shame of Trias has been exposed,” said Pedret, first secretary of the parliamentary executive committee.
“Socialists who ran to hide or destroy the militants’ files, with the fresh memory of the Chilean year 1973.” Others came to the town hall to defend them,” wrote Pedret about the 23F coup, in which he also assured that there were grandparents who had offered to pick up the militants’ children just in case.
The negotiations of the mayor of Barcelona
Trias won the city of Barcelona in the last local and regional elections on May 28, but did not receive enough support to take over as mayor. And although he assured that he would not serve as a city councilor if he did not become mayor, he has finally announced that he will stay until at least next year.
The leader of the Junts in the Barcelona City Council justified his decision to stay by saying that “many people” had asked him to stay “for a while”. His negotiations to enter the city government included discussions with Jaume Collboni.
Trias stated at one point that “nothing can be ruled out,” but ultimately admitted that “it makes little sense” to join a Socialist-led executive. According to the former mayor, the position at this level of management requires that “Collboni not flirt with Ada Colau all day.”
