Sílvia Orriols marks two years as mayor of Ripoll: from success to the great challenge

On June 17, 2023, exactly two years ago today, Sílvia Orriols was proclaimed mayor of Ripoll. Identitarian separatism clearly prevailed in the municipal elections, and since then she has presided over the town's minority government.

The Ripoll mayoralty has catapulted Aliança Catalana as the party poised to shake up the turbulent Catalan political scene.

In two years, Aliança Catalana has gone from being a marginal party to setting the political debate and strategies of parties in Catalonia. The conquest of Ripoll, cradle of Catalanism and the site of the 2017 Islamist attacks, opened the doors of Parliament to Sílvia Orriols. At the halfway point of her term as mayor, she now faces the challenge of making a qualitative leap to consolidate her project.

In these past two years, she has experienced strong growth, especially in inland Catalonia. The party is already preparing for the 2027 municipal elections, which will be key to determining whether its success was merely reactive or if Aliança has come to stay.

The success of Aliança Catalana

The main success of Aliança Catalana has been breaking many taboos on issues such as immigration and insecurity. These were silenced by the left and the separatist process, which for years have held a monopoly on public opinion and moral purity. Orriols's arrival at the mayoralty marked a turning point.

What best defines the logic of Orriolism is the phrase she herself uttered, "half of Catalonia orrioleja in the living room at home." Even people far from her political spectrum admit to seeing themselves reflected in what Aliança Catalana and Sílvia Orriols say.

Her rise is related to frustration over the derailment of the Procés. But it is also due to social decline and the collapse of public services, combined with the rise in migration and increased insecurity.

Aliança Catalana owes its success to breaking the norms and shattering the public debate. Symptomatically, censorship by public media and the cordon sanitaire in institutions have not weakened it but rather benefited it. The clear example is Ripoll, where the opposition has been unable to build an alternative.

If the Ripoll mayoralty served to bring Aliança Catalana out of isolation, Parliament has served to consolidate Sílvia Orriols's profile.

Her movement has sunk the separatist process parties, especially Junts, and her profile has eclipsed declining leaders like Carles Puigdemont.

Her success has also dragged Junts to the right, trying to mimic the success of her discourse. But after achieving the most difficult part, now they must finish the job in the 2027 municipal elections.

Facing her greatest challenge

All parties see the 2027 municipal elections as the prelude to the next Catalan elections, which will be held a year later. Aliança Catalana has spent two years deploying a territorial growth strategy.

This work must now culminate with preparations for the municipal elections.

She faces several challenges ahead, one of them, perhaps the most ambitious, is to achieve representation in Barcelona. The metropolitan area is a hostile place for Aliança Catalana, which nevertheless knows it is key to aspiring to more in Catalonia. In the regional elections, they were just a few votes away from winning a seat in that district.

The situation is more favorable in inland Catalonia, where Aliança Catalana has based its growth. In the central counties, cities like Manresa, Vic, and Olot will be key. The other focus of attention will be the counties of Lleida, where it is already experiencing significant progress.

Tarragona is another territory where its project has not yet taken hold. But as in Barcelona, strong migratory pressure and security problems work in its favor.