In 2019, the former French Prime Minister ran for mayor of Barcelona. Manuel Valls then suffered a setback, arriving only fourth with the support of the liberal anti-independence party Ciudadanos. He was sentenced in Spain to pay 277,000 euros for irregular financing of this campaign, reveals Release this Sunday.
This candidacy for a municipal election in a large metropolis after a leading political career in another country was unprecedented in Europe, where any citizen can stand for local elections in a country other than his own since the Treaty of Maastricht.
Severe overspending of the expenditure ceiling
But Spain’s Court of Auditors spotted two irregularities in his campaign spending. He would have spent nearly 189,500 euros without having declared them and would have exceeded the authorized ceiling of this campaign of 126,819 euros. A huge difference since this represents an overrun of 71% compared to the authorized expenses.
The politician was therefore sentenced to a fine of 251,698 euros and a sentence of 25,000 euros. Since the end of François Hollande’s five-year term, Manuel Valls has had political failures. He wanted to conquer his hometown – he was born in Barcelona in August 1962 – but only finished fourth. He then returned to France and was invested by the presidential majority in the legislative elections of the 5th constituency of French people living abroad but encountered a new disappointment: he was eliminated in the first round.