Carme Gomila: “Ara Més will not integrate into the state coalition, as it did happen in 2023”

PalmaCarme Gomila, candidate for Ara Més-Front Ampli to Congress, is the youngest among the heads of the lists of the main parties in the Balearic Islands that aspire to obtain representation there. At 32 years old, she has been a councilor for the Manacor City Council for the last seven years and now wants to take her voice to Madrid.

Why are you in politics?

— Several things come together: the moment of social urgency and the sense of responsibility. At 32, I have the opportunity to head a candidacy for Congress, and it makes me happy and I feel proud of it. As a woman, it is a challenge because we are returning to a mostly masculinized environment where we have lacked role models. 30 years ago, Maria Antònia Vadell was the candidate for Congress for the PSM-ENE coalition, and I am here thanks to her, too.

What have you learned about municipal politics?

— It has been the best school. I have had the opportunity to work at a council large enough to provide me with a certain background. In municipal politics, you have to find solutions to things that are not strictly your responsibility, which is why you have to be very imaginative and rack your brain because you know firsthand what the problems are, as people bring them to you. At the same time, it has allowed me to find my own way of doing things: when a young woman lands in an institution, she does not have enough role models, and it is very easy to end up mimicking your colleagues, who ultimately have different ways of doing things, because they have not had to consider so many things.

And what can you contribute to Madrid?

— Perspective. Real politics is on the street, not inside offices. I consider myself a very normal person, and I believe that from this normality we can work to provide solutions.

Why has a joint candidacy of the left been possible in the Islands?

— Many ingredients have been added. At Ara Més, we were very clear that we had to achieve this single ballot. We have been very insistent on finding spaces for dialogue between all the parties, being generous, and understanding that we all had to be there. We were very clear that we had to run in the elections, and for us, it was a priority to be able to lead and head this dialogue process.

And how is it justified that a sovereignist party goes with the Spanish left? Will it dilute the distinct voice, which is the differential factor of MÉS?

— Ara Més will not integrate into the state coalition, as it did in 2023. Now we are starting from a candidacy that is strictly from the Balearic Islands. The coalition has been negotiated with the local parties here and we are not joining Frente Amplio. The fact that we have formed this coalition will not mean a renunciation of the principles held by MÉS per Mallorca, Més per Menorca, and Ara Eivissa, which are openly sovereignist organizations and are leading this process. We will not have state obedience, I will have freedom of vote on issues concerning the Balearic Islands; for us, that was a red line.

If I understand correctly, will Ara Més-Front Ampli have freedom of vote within the Frente Amplio parliamentary group?

— Within Ara Més-Front Ampli there will be a political steering body, with members proportionally from all the parties that comprise it, which will decide in which parliamentary group I will end up including myself as a deputy. We have negotiated that I will have freedom of vote on all issues that affect the Balearic Islands and, furthermore, I will be able to influence the vote of the parliamentary group. Ara Més does not renounce sovereignism, nor defending the Catalan language and culture, nor the right to decide, nor its people's freedoms.

In 2023, MÉS and Sumar obtained 83,487 votes and one seat. How do you handle the pressure of maintaining this representation with a broader coalition?

— Our priority is to try to reach as many people as possible and ensure that no vote from the working class stays at home. We are the only useful tool because we have seen that the PSOE government has not been brave enough to carry out certain policies when it was time to be brave.

How do you plan to convince people who say that a useful vote is voting for the PSOE?

— The PSOE sets itself up as the savior of anti-fascism, but what it does is appropriate struggles that organized people have led. However, they are not brave enough to transform things. We have seen this with the housing crisis. They had to call elections because they were not able to pass the Maricarmen decrees until the last minute. The PSOE is comfortable with rentiers, with the fact that there are people who accumulate wealth while 90% of the population cannot make ends meet. I believe that telling people that fascism is coming no longer works, because they want solutions.

What measures do you propose regarding housing?

— We propose to limit rent prices directly, for it to be an automatic measure, since the Balearic Islands precisely meet the legal and judicial requirements provided for by the 2023 Housing Law. It cannot be the case that applying these measures depends on whether a government wants to apply them or not. If the law's criteria are met, they must be applied automatically.

You speak of 105,000 empty homes. How do you plan to guarantee that they can be allocated for habitual residence?

— We propose a 10% tax on the value of apartments for those owners of four or more properties who do not provide affordable and stable rentals. This way, we would force medium and large holders to put the apartments on the market. Furthermore, a reform of the IBI (Property Tax) to make it truly progressive and penalize empty homes unjustifiably. We also advocate for a body of local housing agents that allows for the identification of empty apartments. To this, for example, the Prohens Government has opposed.

At the MÉS assembly to ratify your candidacy you received 78% of the votes. How do you read the remaining 22%?

— There were 6% of votes against and 15% of abstentions. I believe that this abstention is not so much a critical vote towards me as it is probably a wake-up call to the party for not having taken enough care of the processes when there are specific names involved. It is not the first time that this has happened.