Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau announced on Wednesday that she is cutting her city’s tie with its former twin city Tel Aviv, and imposing a “temporary suspension” of relations with Israel because the Jewish State practices “apartheid” against Arabs.
A group calling itself End Complicity with Israel submitted the proposal to end the twin city relationship with Tel Aviv to the mayor and the Barcelona City Council.
Back on July 31, 1492, under the Alhambra Decree issued by Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, more than 300,000 practicing Jews were expelled from Barcelona, as they were from all of Spain. It took those murderous barbarians 500 years to reignite the full flame of their fervent antisemitism.
Mayor Colau sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informing him of her decision and offered this public explanation: “More than 100 organizations and over 4,000 citizens have demanded that we defend the human rights of Palestinians and for this reason, as mayor, I have written to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to inform him that I have temporarily suspended the institutional relationship between Barcelona and Tel Aviv.”
The mayor expects that her move will bring about peace, just like her suspension of her city’s ties with its Russian twin city, St. Petersburg, is helping bring peace between Russia and Ukraine.
The BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest anti-Israel coalition, salutes Mayor Colau, “and the grassroots groups who helped end institutional links with apartheid Israel. Barcelona has become the first city council to suspend ties with apartheid Tel Aviv in solidarity with the Palestinian people, a move that is reminiscent of the historic and courageous city councils that pioneered cutting links with apartheid South Africa.”
Back in 2010, bilateral trade between Spain and Israel totaled 1.69 billion euros, with 853 million euros of Israeli exports to Spain and 836 million euros of Spanish imports to Israel. Spain’s Gross Domestic Product in 2021, with a population of 47 million, was $1.427 trillion. Israel’s, with a population of 9 million, was $488.5 billion for the same year. Israel’s per capita income in 2021 was $40,805 – compared to Spain’s $26,475. Huge difference.
Ada Colau Ballano, 49, was elected Mayor of Barcelona in June 2015. She was indicted by the Spanish judiciary in November 2022 for alleged irregularities in the handing of subsidies to entities connected with her party, Barcelona en Comú. The indictment cited indications of malfeasance in the repeated handing out of subsidies to organizations linked to Colau.
Also in 2022, the Ethics and Conduct Committee of the Council of Barcelona raised concerns about nepotism in the city’s municipal institutions. The Committee heavily criticized the decision to hire Alicia Ramos, the partner of the Housing councilor, as an advisor to the mayor’s staff, citing a potential conflict of interest.
The police union in Barcelona accused Colau of “normalizing” and “dehumanizing” the rising number of crimes committed in the city during her term. Albert Batlle, deputy mayor of Security of the Council of Barcelona, admitted in 2019 that the city was experiencing a “security crisis.” It got to the point where the US embassy issued a warning to visiting Americans about violent crime in Barcelona.
The Federation of the Jewish Communities of Spain directed a statement at the mayor, saying: “We are concerned about the boycott campaign you are leading under the slogan ‘Barcelona says no to apartheid.’ Barcelona and Tel Aviv are open and welcoming societies, leading cities that attract startup investments and tourism. We call on the city council to allow Barcelona to continue to build bridges of harmony and avoid promoting a discourse of rejection and isolation.”
