Ada Colau Ballano(Catalan:[ˈaðəkuˈlaw]Spanish:[ˈaðakoˈlaw];born 3 March 1974) is a Spanish[2][3]activist and politician who was Mayor ofBarcelonabetween 2015 and 2023.[4][5]On 13 June 2015 she was electedMayor of Barcelona,the first woman to hold the office,[6]as part of the citizen municipalist platform,Barcelona En Comú.Colau was one of the founding members and spokespeople of thePlataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH)(Platform for People Affected by Mortgages), which was set up in Barcelona in 2009 in response to the rise in evictions caused by unpaid mortgage loans and the collapse of the Spanish property market in the wake of the2008 financial crisis.

Ada Colau
Ada Colau Ballano picture
Colau in 2022
118thMayor of Barcelona
In office
13 June 2015 – 17 June 2023
DeputyGerardo Pisarello(2015–2019)
Jaume Collboni(2019–2023)
Preceded byXavier Trias
Succeeded byJaume Collboni
Member of theBarcelona City Council
In office
13 June 2015 – 25 October 2024
Succeeded byJordi Rabassa
Personal details
Born
Ada Colau Ballano

(1974-03-03)3 March 1974(age 50)
Barcelona,Spain
Political partyBarcelona en Comú(2014–present)
Catalunya en Comú(2017–present)
Other political
affiliations
Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca(2009–present)
Domestic partnerAdriá Alemany Salafranca
Children2[1]
Occupationactivist, writer, politician
Signature
Websiteadacolau.cat/en

Early and personal life

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Colau dressed asSuperVivienda(Super Housing) protesting in favor ofpublic housingat aICV–EUiAmeeting ahead of the2007 Barcelona City Council election

Ada Colau was born inBarcelona,and grew up in the Guinardó neighbourhood. She went to school at the Santa Anna and Febrer Academies, and went on to study philosophy at theUniversity of Barcelonabut lacks the pertinent degree due to leaving her studies before completion, precisely by one subject, which she claims was due to economic instability in her family. She went on Erasmus inMilanatUniversità Statale di Milano.[7]

Colau has openly referred to herself asbisexual.[8]She and her partner Adrià Alemany Salafranca have two children.[9]

Aside fromCatalanandSpanish,her native tongues, she also speaks fluentItalian.[10]

She joined the2024 Gaza freedom flotilla,citing the deliberate starvation of Gazans during theIsrael–Hamas war.[11]

Platform for People Affected by Mortgages

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Colau in 2006

Ada Colau was one of the founding members of the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH) in 2009, and acted as the organization's spokeswoman until 2014. Colau rose to national prominence after calling a representative of the Spanish Banking Association "a criminal" while representing the PAH at a parliamentary hearing on the housing crisis in February 2013.[12]Colau supports the use ofescraches,public protests outside the homes of government officials.[13]

In March, Madrid Government delegateCristina Cifuentesof thePeople's Partyaccused Colau of supporting the Basque radical nationalist party Bildu.[14]Colau is coauthor of the bookMortgaged Lives,based on her experiences of grassroots campaigning and direct action with the PAH.[15]

Barcelona en Comú and Mayor of Barcelona

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First (testing) iteration ofsuperillesin 2017 atEl Parc i la Llacuna del Poblenou(Superilla Poblenou)
Final iteration ofsuperillesatSant Antoniin September 2023
SuperillaConsell de Cent atEixample,the longest pedestrianized street (2,8 km)[16]

On 7 May 2014, Ada Colau announced her resignation as spokesperson of the PAH.[17]In June 2014[18]she foundedBarcelona en Comú(formerly known as Guanyem Barcelona),[19]a citizen platform that stood in the May 2015 Barcelona municipal elections. Barcelona en Comú won a plurality in the elections (11 of 41 city council seats) and on 13 June 2015 she was sworn in as mayor with the favourable vote of an absolute majority of councillors.[20]She headed again the Barcelona en Comú list vis-à-vis the26 May 2019 Barcelona municipal election.The list came up second, close to the ERC list headed byErnest Maragall,with the same number of municipal councillors (10) as the latter. On 15 June 2019, during the inaugural session of the new municipal council, Colau commanded a qualified majority of the plenary for the investiture vote (21 out of 41 municipal councillors; presumably with the endorsement of the 10 municipal councillors of Barcelona en Comú, along with the 8 municipal councillors of the PSC and 3 out 6 individual councillors of the Barcelona pel Canvi–Ciutadans list:Manuel Valls,Celestino Corbachoand Eva Parera), thus renewing her mandate as Mayor of Barcelona. However, her party lost the majority on the28 May 2023 Barcelona municipal election.

In 2018, after a legal battle, she obtained the lifting of the Constitutional Court's veto on the expropriation of empty dwellings. More than 2,000 bank-owned homes that have been unoccupied for several years could be converted into social housing.[21]

During her period as mayor of Barcelona, Colau has maintained a political stance against activities that are susceptible of contributing togreenhouse gas emissionsandair pollution.She has repeatedly opposed the expansion ofEl Prat airport[22]and the use of private cars in the city,[23]and has pushed regional authorities to restrict the number of cruise ships arrivals in Barcelona.[24]In 2020 she declared a "climate emergency", advocating limiting the consumption of meat at schools and forbidding councillors from using the Barcelona-Madrid air shuttle.[25][26][27]Colau also called for a reduction of air traffic during theC40 Cities2019 summit, arguing that aeroplanes generate greenhouse gas emissions that are "very dangerous for the planet".[28]

Although Spanish municipalities have little power in the area ofpublic health,which is usually the responsibility of the regions, Ada Colau's administration has made the mental health of residents, especially the youngest, one of its priorities. As soon as she came to power, she set up the 2016–2022 mental health plan, which included 170 initiatives and led, in particular, to the creation of various reception structures, the Konsulta'm. Some initiatives, such as the suicide prevention telephone number, have been adopted by the government on a national scale. Barcelona City Council has also signed a protocol with employers and trade unions to improve prevention in the workplace, developed a program to help young children develop their "emotional muscles" in schools, and opened crèches between 4.30 and 8 p.m. so that grandparents looking after their grandchildren can get together and help each other.[29]

During both of her mandates she championed the idea ofsuperilles(lit. 'superblocks',city blocks), consisting of a grouping of city blocks to create a bigger one with its interior streetspedestrianized,especially atEixampleandSant Martídistricts, the first iterations were deployed atSant Antonineighborhood in 2016.

During her second mandate she kickstarted the union ofthe two tramway networks(TrambaixandTrambesòs) alongAvinguda Diagonal,[30]with the first section reachingVerdaguer(fromGlòries) being opened in November 2024.[31]

Catalan independence and pro-Europeanism

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Colau stated in 2016, "I've never been nationalist or pro-independence."[32]Colau was originally against the referendum vote; however, a week before the actual vote, she stated a referendum could take place after sustained pressure from pro-independence forces.[33]After the referendum of the 1-O, she embraced a central position rejecting both anUDIand the intervention in the Catalan self-government.[34][35]She considers herself in the camp "committed to advancing towards a democratic, social and freedom-loving European project".[non-primary source needed][36]

Controversies and criticism

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Alleged corruption scandals

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Ada Colau wasindictedby the Spanish judiciary in 2022, following a complaint from the Vauras fund, for alleged irregularities in the handing of subsidies to entities linked to her partyBarcelona en Comú,including to the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages which she founded in 2009.[37][38][39]Colau faced criticism because she refused to resign from her post as mayor, despite the ethicalcode of conductof the party stating that party members pledge to resign from their posts should they be indicted for corruption, embezzlement or influence peddling, among other crimes.[40][39][41]A judge later dismissed a case involving some of the charges pressed against her.[42]

In November 2022, the Provincial Court of Barcelona reopened the case against her. Thewritstated that there are indications ofmalfeasancein the repeated handing out of subsidies to organisations linked to Colau.[43][44][45]

She was cleared in December 2023. The magistrate points to the fund Vauras for using a complaint against the former mayoress for "purposes unrelated to those of the criminal proceedings" because "the housing policies" promoted by the City Council "were not favorable to her".[46]

Accusations of nepotism

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In 2022, the Ethics and Conduct Committee of the Council of Barcelona produced a report in which it heavily criticised the decision to hire Alicia Ramos, partner of the Housing councillor, as an advisor to the staff of Ada Colau on grounds of a potentialconflict of interest.The report also stated that Alicia Ramos was not hired following a competitive process, and that the authorities failed to provide any reasons as to why Ramos was suitable for the role.[47][48]Colau has also been criticised for several other controversial hirings, such as that of her husband Adrià Alemany as an advisor to Barcelona en Comú, the party she leads. Adrià Alemany was, however, one of the party's founders.[49][50][47]

Accusations about crime rates

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Albert Batlle, the deputy mayor of Security of the Council of Barcelona, says in 2019 that the city was experiencing a "security crisis",[51]while United States embassy in Spain soon issued a statement warning of violent crime in Barcelona.[52]In September 2022 the police union of theCatalan autonomous policehas accused Colau of "normalising" and "dehumanising" the rising number of crimes committed in Barcelona during her mayoralty after a 25-year-old man was fatally stabbed duringLa Mercèfestivities.[53][54][55]

Accusations of environmental hypocrisy

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Ada Colau, along with two other council officers, faced accusations of hypocrisy after taking atransatlantic flighttoChileto attend the investiture of Chilean presidentGabriel Boricin 2022, followed by a flight toArgentina.A local news outlet estimated the totalcarbon footprintof their trip at 3339 kg.[56][57]She also came under criticism in 2020 for using a car to attend a radio interview in which she advocated using public transport instead of cars.[58][59][60]

Awards

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  • 2013 - Award for Human Rights, Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival[61]
  • 2013 - Award for Defenders of Social Rights, Colau Ada and Rafael Mayoral,[62]representing thePlataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH)(Platform for People Affected by Mortgages), for their continuing struggle for the legal right to a decent home, for their capacity to mobilize and citizen participation, and for their example of solidarity. Award from the media "Human Journalism".[63][64]
  • 2013 - European Citizens' Prize (with the PAH)[65]
  • 2013 - United Women Prize from the Artistas Intérpretes, Sociedad de Gestión (AISGE).[66]

Publications

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Books

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  • 2012 - Ada Colau and Adria Alemany,Mortgaged Lives.Foreword byGerardo Pisarelloand José Coy, English Translation by Michelle TeranISBN978-09-791-3777-8
  • 2013 - Ada Colau and Adria Alemany,Yes you can! Chronicle of a small great victory.Editorial Destino, Collection Imago Mundi, 19 April 2013,ISBN978-84-233-4690-5,96 pp.[67][68]

Articles

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  • 2011 - Ada Colau,How to stop an eviction,Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), July 2011.
  • 2014 - Ada Colau,Making the democratic revolution happen,Diario Público, 5 December 2014.

References

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  1. ^Izquierdo, Patricia (April 26, 2017)."Ada Colau ha sido madre en Barcelona por segunda vez de un bebé llamado Gael".vanitatis.elconfidencial.com.
  2. ^"Disillusioned Spain puts faith in new era of political activism".The Financial Times. 25 June 2015.Retrieved23 August2018.One breed of Spanish politician is gradually making way for another. It is not exactly a matter of generational change, for the newcomers include experienced figures such as Manuela Carmena, 71, a judge emerita of the supreme court who, as a young lawyer, used to defend people persecuted by the Franco dictatorship. (...) A second example is Ada Colau, who rose to prominence as a campaigner for homeowners threatened with eviction, and who upset the apple cart to win election in May as mayor of Barcelona. Her counterpart in Valencia is Mònica Oltra, leader of a leftist movement known as Coalició Compromís, which blends a firm stand against corruption with environmentalism and Valencian regionalism.
  3. ^"Spain: Millions stage International Women's Day strike".Deutsche Welle. 8 March 2018.Retrieved23 August2018.High-profile Spanish politicians also showed their solidarity. Barcelona's city hall, led by Mayor Ada Colau, hung up a purple banner that read "Barcelona city hall supports the feminist strike."
  4. ^Pujadas, Núria (17 June 2023)."Jaume Collboni, elegido alcalde de Barcelona tras el apoyo a última hora de los comunes y el PP".Cadena SER.
  5. ^Blanchar, Clara; Cia, Blanca (June 15, 2019)."Colau reelegida alcaldesa en una tensa investidura con los votos de PSC y Valls".El País– via elpais.com.
  6. ^Amy Goodman,"From Occupying Banks to City Hall: Meet Barcelona's New Mayor Ada Colau",Democracy Now,June 5, 2015.
  7. ^"Biography: Ada Colau".Ada Colau.Archived fromthe originalon 2015-04-02.Retrieved16 March2015.
  8. ^Accini, José (20 January 2019)."Colau se reivindica de nuevo como la primera alcaldesa bisexual".El País(in Spanish).Retrieved25 February2021.
  9. ^Sierra, Lluís (4 July 2015)."Ada Colau y Adrià Alemany: El poder en familia".La Vanguardia(in Spanish).Retrieved25 February2021.
  10. ^Cau, Eugenio (20 November 2024)."Barcellona e i suoi turisti, con Ada Colau".Globo(in Italian).il Post.
  11. ^"Despite Distractions, Israel Is Still Killing Palestinians Daily".Freedom Flotilla.19 April 2024.Retrieved20 April2024.
  12. ^Daley, Susanne (20 December 2013)."Leading the Charge Against Spain's Mortgage Crisis".The New York Times.Retrieved11 October2014.
  13. ^López Iturriaga, Mikel (2 August 2013)."In Spain you can be a mobster but still merit full institutional approval".El País.Retrieved11 October2014.
  14. ^"Cifuentes riza el rizo y vincula a la Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca con ETA".Público. 26 March 2013.Retrieved4 November2014.
  15. ^Colau, Ada."Mortgaged Lives".Retrieved11 October2014.
  16. ^https://www.arquitectes.cat/ca/system/files/users/14663/20201119_superilles_sessiotecnica.pdf
  17. ^Blanchar, Clara (7 May 2014),"Ada Colau deja de ser portavoz de la PAH",El País,retrieved26 June2014
  18. ^França, João (26 June 2014)."Guanyem Barcelona buscará conquistar el Ayuntamiento desde los movimientos sociales".Catalunyaplural.cat.eldiario.es.Retrieved26 June2014.
  19. ^"Let's Win Back Barcelona".Guanyem Barcelona. Archived fromthe originalon 17 October 2014.Retrieved11 October2014.
  20. ^Burridge, Tom (25 May 2015)."Spain enters a new political era".BBC News.Retrieved25 May2015.
  21. ^Congostrina, Alfonso L. (2018-04-12)."Barcelona comienza a expropiar los pisos vacíos de los bancos".El País(in Spanish).ISSN1134-6582.
  22. ^"Colau rebutja l'ampliació del Prat i recorda que" té altres prioritats "".Tot Barcelona | Notícies i Informació d'actualitat a Barcelona(in Catalan). 2022-05-04.Retrieved2022-10-04.
  23. ^Ortega, Maria (2020-09-22)."Barcelona preveu que mig milió de viatges en vehicle privat passin al transport públic".Ara.cat(in Catalan).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  24. ^"The cruise ship conflict: Europe's port cities vs floating hotels".Financial Times.2022-08-28.Retrieved2022-10-04.
  25. ^SER, Cadena (2020-01-15)."Ada Colau:" Hay que reducir las emisiones sí o sí "".cadena SER(in European Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  26. ^Blanchar, Clara (2020-01-30)."Colau pide a las escuelas que reduzcan la carne roja en los comedores".El País(in Spanish).ISSN1134-6582.Retrieved2022-10-04.
  27. ^Planas (Barcelona), Pablo (2020-01-15)."Colau declara el" estado de emergencia climática "y reducirá la carne en los menús escolares".Libertad Digital(in European Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  28. ^"Ada Colau on Twitter:" Los aviones vuelan en las capas altas de la atmósfera y generan emisiones de efecto invernadero muy peligrosas para el planeta. En la cumbre de @C40cities hemos exigido un compromiso a los Estados para reducir el tráfico de forma urgente #TheFutureWeWant "".Twitter(in Spanish). Archived fromthe originalon 13 March 2022.
  29. ^"Barcelona's ambitious mental health plan sees results".2022-11-30.Retrieved2023-12-15.
  30. ^"Colau pacta amb ERC la connexió del tramvia per la Diagonal, que començarà el 2021"(in Catalan).Betevé.12 December 2020.
  31. ^"El tramvia arribarà a Verdaguer pel nou tram de la Diagonal a partir del 9 de novembre".Barcelona City Council(in Catalan). 21 October 2024.
  32. ^"ADA COLAU".POLITICO.2016-12-07.Retrieved2019-12-05.
  33. ^Torres, Diego (2017-09-14)."Barcelona's mayor to allow voting in referendum".POLITICO.Retrieved2019-12-05.
  34. ^"Barcelona mayor Ada Colau warns against Catalonia's secession from Spain | DW | 10.10.2017".DW.COM.Retrieved2019-12-05.
  35. ^"Barcelona's mayor: 'Votes for CatComú won't go towards 'yes' to independence'".In English.13 November 2017.Retrieved2019-12-05.
  36. ^Colau, Ada (2017-09-27)."Europe must act to protect the rights and freedoms of Catalans | Ada Colau".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved2019-12-05.
  37. ^"Ada Colau imputada de nuevo: ahora por coacciones y prevaricación".okdiario.com(in Spanish). 2022-04-25.Retrieved2022-10-04.
  38. ^Albalat, Toni Sust, J G. (2022-04-25)."Imputación de Ada Colau: la Audiencia de Barcelona ordena investigar por prevaricación y coacciones".elperiodico(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  39. ^abBueno, Clara Blanchar, Jesús García (2022-01-19)."Colau rechaza dimitir pese a ser investigada por un juez por presuntas irregularidades en subvenciones".El País(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  40. ^"Colau, 'víctima' de su propia palabrería y demagogia".ELMUNDO(in Spanish). 2022-01-20.Retrieved2022-10-06.
  41. ^"Gobernar obedeciendo. Código de ética política | Barcelona En Comú".2022-03-24. Archived from the original on 2022-03-24.Retrieved2022-10-04.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  42. ^"El juez archiva la causa contra Ada Colau por las subvenciones a entidades afines".ELMUNDO(in Spanish). 2022-07-01.Retrieved2022-10-04.
  43. ^"La Audiencia de Barcelona reabre la causa contra Colau por supuestas irregularidades en subvenciones".www.publico.es.Retrieved2022-11-04.
  44. ^"La Audiencia ve indicios de prevaricación en la actuación de Colau con las subvenciones a entidades afines".La Vanguardia(in Spanish). 2022-11-04.Retrieved2022-11-04.
  45. ^Blanchar, Jesús García Bueno, Clara (2022-11-04)."La justicia reabre la causa contra Ada Colau por conceder ayudas públicas a entidades afines".El País(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-11-04.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  46. ^Altimira, Oriol Solé (2023-12-14)."La Justicia admite por primera vez que Colau ha sufrido una guerra judicial por parte de sus rivales".elDiario.es(in Spanish).
  47. ^abFernández, Antonio (2022-02-08)."Nepotismo en Barcelona: hasta media docena de enchufes en el equipo de Colau".elconfidencial.com(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  48. ^Congostrina, Alfonso L. (2022-01-31)."El Comité de Ética de Barcelona censura a Colau por contratar a la pareja de una concejala".El País(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  49. ^Noguer, Miquel (2015-06-28)."Ada Colau niega nepotismo por el contrato de su pareja".El País(in Spanish).ISSN1134-6582.Retrieved2022-10-04.
  50. ^Dirigentes, Grupo."Las cinco decisiones más polémicas de Ada Colau".Dirigentes Digital(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  51. ^Agencias (2019-08-14)."El ayuntamiento de Colau admite que hay una" crisis de seguridad "en Barcelona".elconfidencial.com(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  52. ^Casanova, Grego (2019-08-23)."US embassy issues warning about rising violent crime in Barcelona".EL PAÍS English Edition.Retrieved2022-10-04.
  53. ^"Muere apuñalado un joven de 25 años durante las fiestas de la Mercè en Barcelona".www.lasexta.com(in Spanish). 2022-09-25.Retrieved2022-10-04.
  54. ^Digital, Periodista (2022-08-30)."Los robos en la Barcelona de Colau se disparan un 47% en 2022: Bolsos de playa, relojes de lujo y casas de futbolistas".Periodista Digital(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  55. ^"Uspac acusa de" deshumanización "a Colau tras el joven muerto durante La Mercè".Crónica Global(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  56. ^"La alcaldesa de Barcelona llega a Chile para la investidura de Boric".SWI swissinfo.ch(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  57. ^"Colau pasa de la huella ecológica: las emisiones contaminantes de su viaje a Chile y Argentina".www.metropoliabierta.com(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  58. ^Independiente, El (2020-11-18)."Colau defiende el patinete pero queda en evidencia:" Hoy he venido en coche "".El Independiente(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  59. ^Mercado, Libre (2020-11-19)."Destapan a Ada Colau: carga contra el coche en una entrevista a la que acude... en coche".Libre Mercado(in European Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  60. ^"Colau ataca al vehículo en la radio y descubren que ha ido en coche".www.metropoliabierta.com(in Spanish).Retrieved2022-10-04.
  61. ^(This prize will be awarded to a personality or a group whose life and work has been intricately linked with the defence of human rights).Toni Navarro, director of the Festival, gives the award of Human Rights to Ada Colau,26 May 2013
  62. ^Entrevista a Rafael Mayoral,El desahucio es un problema colectivo,El País,6 July 2011
  63. ^Defensores de Derechos Sociales, Ada Colau y Rafael Mayoral en representación de la PAH (Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca), Periodismo HumanoArchived2015-12-22 at theWayback Machine,3 May 2013
  64. ^Ada Colau y la PAH galardonadas por los Premios Defensores de Derechos otorgados por 'Periodismo Humano', Europa Press,3 May 2013
  65. ^"Spain's anti-evictions lobby wins EU prize A man belonging to the PAH anti-evictions lobby protests against home evictions regime in Barcelona. Photo: Josep Lago/AFP Spain's anti-evictions lobby wins EU prize".The Local Spain. 6 June 2013.Retrieved11 October2014.
  66. ^Pilar Bardem entrega a Ada Colau el premio de los actores 'Mujeres en Unión',elplural.com,5 June 2013
  67. ^Ada Colau, cuatro años de pelea por el derecho a una vivienda digna,La Marea,20 April 2013
  68. ^Y Colau también estará en Sant Jordi,19/4/2013,eldiario.escat
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