Junts Leadership Supports Mayors Who Refuse to Register without Filter

Junts supports their mayors who refuse to register residents without verifying the legal or housing status of the applicant. The state regulations require registering anyone living in a municipality, regardless of whether they illegally occupy a home. However, some councils governed by Junts resist fulfilling this obligation, citing management and order reasons.

The party's general secretary, Jordi Turull, defended the mayors who apply filters to registration this Monday. Turull questions registering those who claim to live "in a river or under a bridge," something he considers dehumanizing. The registry should be linked to conditions of dignified living, Turull says, not just a mere declaration of presence.

The Case of Martorell

There is, for example, the case of Martorell, which, with almost 30,000 residents, is one of the municipalities at the center of the debate. Its mayor, Xavier Fonollosa (Junts), has declared that he doesn't register squatters because "rights can't arise from a crime." Now, the City Council faces a lawsuit filed by several residents with the support of social entities.

Fonollosa assures that he will only register squatters if a judge expressly orders it. He claims that his criteria are not related to immigration but to respect for legality. He accuses the current regulations of encouraging illegal occupation by not setting clear limits.

Entities like the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages and the Xarxa pel Padró have denounced the practice. They warn that preventing registration violates basic rights such as health and education. They also alert to the risk of creating new pockets of social exclusion on the margins of the system.

It's Not Just Martorell

The conflict is not exclusive to Martorell; other municipalities like Lleida and Llagostera have also applied restrictions. Some require prior interviews with property owners or delay the process with inspections. The law, however, requires registering those who prove they effectively live at an address, regardless of their legal status.

Junts is now working on a legislative proposal to modify the framework of the registry. They want to link registration to criteria of rootedness and minimum habitability conditions. They hope the initiative will reach Congress before the summer, within the framework of the pact with PSOE.

Podemos and Sumar have already warned that they won't support the reform if it doesn't include the regularization of migrants. Turull has replied that they won't accept blackmail or defamation about their position on immigration. He has insisted that Junts seeks to ensure real integration, not just "papers without a future project."

As is clear, this stance by Junts has Aliança Catalana as a backdrop. For some time now, Puigdemont's party has been engaged in an electoral competition with Orriols. In the case of the registry, it is evident that Orriols has once again set the ideological pace of the political debate in Catalonia.