It would appear that the resignation of Jose Montilla as Industry Minister and his replacement by Joan Clos has given the embattled mayor of Barcelona some political breathing space.

Mr Clos has been the objective of many attacks not only from inside his own party, but also from almost all the opposition parties, following his apparent inability to deal satisfactorily with the collapse of a building in Barcelona's Carmel district due to the work on the Metro that was taking place underneath it.

With the Catalan elections on the horizon, the latest polls showed that Mr Clos's chances of retaining the mayoral seat in Barcelona "were very slim indeed."

Now he is to go to Madrid to replace Mr Montilla, who in all probability will become the next regional president after regional and municipal elections at the start of November.