US threatens to stop funding a Barcelona library over its diversity policies

The anti-diversity policies of Donald Trump’s administration have reached Barcelona, Spain. Specifically, a municipal library that hosts a project called American Space Barcelona, which promotes cultural exchanges between the capital of the Catalonia region and the United States and which has organized some 2,000 activities with more than 77,000 attendees since 2016.

The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, on Wednesday issued a statement rejecting a demand by the U.S. Embassy for the city to remove funding for this program: “We will not take a single step back in promoting equal opportunities. We will maintain the program because this order has no legal standing or democratic legitimacy,” he said.

The Ignasi Iglésias-Can Fabra library, in the district of Sant Andreu, finances the program in part with funds from the U.S. government, although Barcelona city officials have not detailed the amount of this contribution. The city received a request from the U.S. embassy in Madrid a few weeks ago demanding the application of Executive Order 14173, called Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity. U.S. federal law requires that no funds be used for initiatives or programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

Collboni assured that the city will maintain the program and will continue to seek collaboration agreements with cities, institutions and public entities in the United States. Barcelona is twinned with Boston, Chicago and New Orleans, cities that, in the mayor’s words, share and defend their same values. “The United States is not Trump. We will not apply this measure because its only aim is to leave out women and families because of their origin,” he said.

Sources at the City Council also noted that the executive order does not apply outside the United States, and that the policies of the city of Barcelona, of Spain’s regions and of the Spanish State, as well as the European legal framework, contemplate measures to promote gender equity, diversity and inclusion.

The same sources said that the U.S. order “contravenes the basic values and principles of inclusion, promotion of gender equality and plurality that inform the policies of the Government of the city and of the City Council.” These policies, they said, are applied to all public actions and municipal programs, including those organized by Barcelona’s network of more than 40 public libraries. For many years, this network has been the second most highly rated municipal service by citizens, after the fire department. The City Council has conveyed these arguments in writing to the Embassy.

Democrats Abroad, the official overseas arm of the Democratic party, with representation in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, has criticized the U.S. administration’s gesture and defined it as “intolerable.” “We support Mayor Collboni’s position. We must respect laws, diversity and inclusion. This order should be illegal because rights cannot be taken away, least of all abroad, without prior congressional approval,” argues the entity, which will demonstrate in Sant Jaume square on March 29 against Trump’s policies in his first month in office. “What happens in the United States reverberates around the world, and cultural capitals like Barcelona must resist the onslaught of Trumpist populism.”

The Embassy letter requested compliance with the executive order in connection with the American Space Barcelona program. The latter’s activities include cultural exchanges between Barcelona and the United States, especially in areas such as language learning and educational guidance. Through the program, many children, teenagers and young adults can learn about the U.S. and access scholarships to study abroad. Among the most outstanding initiatives, American Space gives priority to women who want to pursue university degrees in the fields of technology and science. The American Space archive contains around 2.500 documents donated by the Department of State.

A few days ago it emerged that U.S. embassies have begun to ask their local suppliers “of products and services” to ensure compliance with the new framework. In response to questions from EL PAÍS, a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy stated that “the Embassy in Madrid and the Consulate General in Barcelona, like all U.S. embassies and consulates around the world, have communicated to grant-recipient entities, as well as suppliers of products and services, the new framework based on the recent executive orders signed by President Donald Trump. We want to ensure that our contracts and grants comply with all U.S. federal anti-discrimination laws and that suppliers or grantees do not conduct programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion that violate existing federal laws.”

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