On March 15, the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, took part in the demonstration “Una piazza por la Europa. Tante città, un única voce” (A square for Europe. Many cities, a single voice), which took place in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo with over 30,000 participants. Collboni, invited by the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri –one of the most active voices in Italian local government mobilising cities for this initiative– was the only mayor from outside Italy to participate.

The aim of this plural civic mobilisation, inspired by the call made by the journalist Michelle Serra in the newspaper la Repubblica, was to call for the defence of democratic values in Europe and reinforce the commitment of European citizens to the common European project. The demonstration was organised by Autonomie Locali Italiane (ALI), and it brought together numerous figures from the political, academic and cultural worlds along with local government representatives from more than 300 Italian cities. Among the many mayors present were those of Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Naples and Turin, while the speakers included artists, writers, intellectuals, voluntary workers and political refugees.

Jaume Collboni called for stronger alliances of European cities to address people’s everyday problems. “Cities are the front line of European democracy and when they work together, Europe is stronger, more resilient, closer to its citizens. Today, more than ever, at a time of global challenges, cities must be the key figures in the European decision-making process. We are Europe. Citizens of Europe, unite!”

Collboni’s participation was preceded by the presentation of the Mayors for Housing alliance declaration in Brussels in February. This manifesto, signed by 13 European cities, including Rome and other Italian cities, asks the EU institutions for a greater city presence in designing the policies that affect them, and more direct funds and resources for cities to tackle the problem of accessing housing.

Along with Barcelona, one of the main voices calling for a space for municipal authorities in Europe has been that of the Mayor of Rome. This joint work began in Rome in October 2024, when Mayor Collboni took part in the Festival delle Città 2024 , organised by the Lega delle Autonomie Locali (ALI).