Political communication and electoral strategy: Xavier Trias and the 22 May 2011 local elections in Barcelona

Abstract

In the municipal elections of 22 May 2011, the candidate of the Convergence and Union party (CiU) won in the polls. In his third attempt since 2003, Xavier Trias managed to defeat the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), which had controlled the City Council since 1979 when the first local elections were held in Spain’s new democratic era. Applying analysis proposals based on political communication and marketing, this paper explores the reasons for Trias’s success: his strengths (dialogue, empathy, experience); the use of simple relevant slogans (“The mayor for people”, “Positive change” and, in a play on words in Catalan, “You&Trias”/ “It’s Up to You”), and a transverse campaign focused on personal meetings with target groups through gatherings, discussions and lunches, on the dissemination of information through journalists and traditional communication media, and on an active Internet and social networks strategy.

KEYWORDS: electoral campaign, marketing, strategy, Barcelona, communication, social networks.