Barcelona’s race for the Sindicatura de Greuges, the city’s Ombudsman office, has started with David Bondia ahead in early endorsements as he seeks re-election. He is facing Gemma Calvet in a process that runs for almost two months and ends with a final vote by the city council.
Deputy Mayor Maria Eugènia Gay will meet both candidates at the Barcelona City Council on Wednesday 27 May to set out the stages of the election. Public debates are due on 9 June at the Consell de Ciutat and on 17 June on Betevé.
Residents aged 16 and over who are registered in Barcelona can vote on the Decidim Barcelona platform from 1 to 30 June. That public vote does not decide the winner on its own, but it carries weight. The council will make the final choice in July, and the winning candidate needs two-thirds of the 41 councillors, which means 27 votes. The new appointment is due in November.
Bondia has been Ombudsman for five years and is seeking the maximum permitted 10-year term, which would take him to 2031. During his first term, he focused on direct contact with residents and mediation with the council. One example cited was Casa Orsola in Eixample, where his mediation played a key role. He also set up a commission to handle reparations for victims of child sexual abuse.
Bondia is a law graduate. Before taking office in 2021, he was president of the Institute of Human Rights of Catalonia and a public international law professor at the University of Barcelona. Calvet, who also has a law degree, has worked in legal and social roles, including on the Ethics Committee of the Catalan Police, the Barcelona Social Services Consortium, and the Anti-Discrimination Office at Barcelona City Council.
City entities backed Bondia far more heavily than Calvet before the deadline closed last Monday. Bondia received 50 endorsements, including Pimec, the FAVB, the IEC, Dincat and Irídia. His team said several of those are federations representing about 3,000 organisations. Calvet received three endorsements, from the Ateneu Barcelonès, the Fundació Privada Mambré and Projecte dels Noms-Hispanosida.
Municipal groups, including ERC, PSC, Barcelona en Comú, PP and Junts, have not yet said who they will support. They plan to weigh the public vote and the entity backing before deciding. That is a change from 2021, when eight candidates stood at the start and most groups had a preferred name much earlier. For more Barcelona civic coverage, see our Community and Sport pages.
