The new mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, has rfeversed the decision of his predecessor, Ada Colau, who in February suspended the city’s relations with Israel and the twinning of Barcelona with Tel Aviv, daily La Vanguardia reported.
The decision to revoke the suspension was announced on Friday by the Commissioner for International Relations and City Promotion, Pau Solanilla. “With the reestablishment of relations we are also respecting the majority position of the plenary of the Barcelona City Council,” said Solanilla.
‘’We want to return to the positioning of a Barcelona that is committed to dialogue, peace, consensus and that fully exercises its Mediterranean capital.’’ He insisted that Tel Aviv “represents the best progressive values of Israel, with more than thirty large demonstrations during the last months against the reactionary policies of the Netanyahu government; Tel Aviv is an indispensable city for dialogue in the Mediterranean”.
Solanilla reiterated that the restoration of relations with Tel Aviv “is not detrimental to relations with Palestine” and announced that Jaume Collboni’s first trip outside Europe will be precisely to Palestine.”
In February, then-mayor Ada Colau released a public letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announcing the end of her city’s agreement of friendship and collaboration with Tel Aviv, citing “repeated violations of human rights of the Palestinian population.”
“At the request of more than 100 entities and thousands of Barcelona neighbors, I have just communicated to Netanyahu that we suspend institutional relations with the State of Israel due to the repeated violations of human rights of the Palestinian population and non-compliance with United Nations resolutions,” she wrote on Facebook in Spanish, and on Instagram.
Lior Haiat, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, called the move “unfortunate” and “in complete contrast to the position of the majority of the residents of Barcelona and their representatives in the city council.” The Barcelona city council also rejected Colau’s decision, with her Barcelona in Common party being the sole faction to vote in favor.