This woman is going to be the mayor of Barcelona

Meet Ada Colau.

The former front-line activist is set to become the first-ever female mayor of Barcelona after winning the city's municipal elections.

Here she is in 2013 being carried out by riot police officers while occupying a bank during a protest to support a neighbour being evicted.

She now leads a left-wing alliance including anti-austerity movement Podemos that gained 11 council seats, one ahead of pro-independence party Convergencia i Unio (CiU).

Colau, 41, ran on an anti-austerity platform, and has pledged to fine banks with empty properties on the books and cut back on local government salaries.

"Discussions about this start today," she said on Monday.

Mainstream parties were the biggest losers in local and regional elections, with the ruling Partido Popular (PP) suffering heavy losses.

(Pictures: AP)

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