Ada Colau says US denied her entry to Puerto Rico

Former Barcelona mayor and Fundació Sentit Comú president Ada Colau says the US government denied her entry to Puerto Rico for “ideological reasons”, according to RAC1, citing sources from Comuns.

Colau, a candidate for the Front Ampli, had planned to attend a Fearless Cities event and speak with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The US administration reportedly justified the refusal by saying it suspected she might intend to remain in the country unlawfully.

Interview focused on the flotilla

According to the same sources, the rest of Colau’s delegation received ESTA travel authorisation for the United States, while she was asked to attend an interview at the US embassy so the decision could be reconsidered.

The former mayor attended the interview 15 days ago. Comuns sources say it focused on her participation in the flotilla and the three days she spent detained in Israel, with repeated questions about those events.

Colau received the final refusal on Tuesday. Comuns believes it was linked to her pro-Palestinian activism.

The refusal came two weeks after Ada Colau said on a Spanish television programme that she could not make ends meet and had had to leave the flat where she had lived all her life.