Joan Ignasi Elena i Garcia (born 27 June 1968) is a Spanish lawyer and politician from

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, former member of the

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...

and the current

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Early life

Elena was born on 27 June 1968 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. He has a degree in law from the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

. He joined the Socialist Youth of Catalonia (Joventut Socialista de Catalunya) in 1983 and was its first secretary from 1991 to 1993. He joined the

Socialists' Party of Catalonia The Socialists' Party of Catalonia ( ca, Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC–PSOE official acronym) is a social-democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Catalonia� ...

(PSC) in 1986 and was a youth councillor in

Horta-Guinardó Horta-Guinardó () is the name of one of the districts of Barcelona, located in its North-Eastern corner. It is named after two very heterogeneous areas of the city, Horta and el Guinardó, which together cover a large area of 11.92 km², ...

from 1987 to 1991.

Career

Elena is a lawyer specialising in

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

and

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

law. At the 1992 regional election Elena was placed 30th on PSC's list of candidates in the

Province of Barcelona Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is . However, in February 1994, he was appointed to the

following the resignation of Antoni Castells. At the 1995 regional election he was placed 30th on PSC's list of candidates in the Province of Barcelona but the party only managed to win 22 seats in the province and as a result he failed to get re-elected. At the 1999 regional election Elena was placed 39th on the Socialists' Party of Catalonia-

Citizens for Change Citizens for Change ( ca, Ciutadans pel Canvi, CpC) was a political platform in Catalonia created in 1999 to support Pasqual Maragall's bid to the presidency of the Government of Catalonia in order to put an end to the hegemony of Jordi Pujol's ...

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political party, political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand ...

's list of candidates in the Province of Barcelona but the party only managed to win 36 seats in the province and as a result he failed to get elected. Elena contested the 1999 local elections as a Socialists' Party of Catalonia–Municipal Progress electoral alliance candidate in

Vilanova i la Geltrú Vilanova i la Geltrú () is the capital city of Garraf '' comarca'', in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Historically a fishing port, the city has a growing population of approximately 66,000, and is situated 40 km south-west of ...

and was elected. He was re-elected at the 2003 local elections. He succeeded Sixte Moral i Reixach as Mayor of Vilanova i la Geltrú in 2005. He was re-elected at the 2007 local elections. At the PSC's 12th congress in December 2011 Elena ran for the leadership of the party but was resoundingly defeated by Pere Navarro, receiving 187 votes (25%) to Navarro's 545 votes (73%). In June 2012 Elena and other PSC members supportive of a referendum in

Catalan independence The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginning ...

formed Avancem. Elena contested the 2012 regional election as PSC candidate in the Province of Barcelona and was elected to the Parliament of Catalonia. In January 2013 five PSC MPs (Elena, Marina Geli, Rocío Martínez-Sampere, Àngel Ros and Núria Ventura) did not vote on the Parliamentary

Catalan Declaration of Sovereignty The Declaration on the Sovereignty and Right to Decide of the People of Catalonia ('' ca, Declaració de sobirania i el dret a decidir del poble de Catalunya'') was issued on 23 January 2013. The declaration asserted that Catalonia is an autonom ...

, going against party policy to oppose the declaration. In January 2014 Elena, Geli and Ventura went against PSC policy and supported a motion in the Parliament of Catalonia asking the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

for the power to hold a consultation on the possibility of Catalan independence. The party leadership requested the three dissident MPs to resign from Parliament. The trio were stripped of the party positions in Parliament and relegated to

backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

s. Elena resigned from the Socialists Group in Parliament in July 2014 and in September 2014 joined the Mixed Group. He resigned from Parliament in September 2014. Avancem formally split from PSC in June 2014 and started discussions with

New Catalan Left New Catalan Left ( ca, Nova Esquerra Catalana, NECat) was a Catalanist and pro-independence political party founded in December 2012 as a split from the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) by Ernest Maragall, brother of former Catalan president P ...

about forming an alliance but these discussions collapsed in November 2014. In December 2016, the

Government of Catalonia The Executive Council of Catalonia ( ca, Consell Executiu) or the Executive Government of Catalonia (Catalan: ) is the executive branch of the Generalitat of Catalonia. It is responsible for the political action, regulation, and administratio ...

established the National Pact for the Referendum (Pacte Nacional pel Referèndum) to bring together those who favoured holding a referendum on

in agreement with the Spanish state. Elena was appointed chair of the organisation. In March 2017 Elena presented a petition signed by 500,000 supporting a referendum but the

Spanish government gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , da ...

refused to consider a referendum on

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

. In July 2017 he was interviewed by the Civil Guard investigating preparations for the proposed unilateral referendum. During the

Trial of Catalonia independence leaders The trial of Catalonia independence leaders, legally named and popularly known as the , was an oral trial that began on 12 February 2019 in the Supreme Court of Spain. The case was tried by seven judges and was chaired by judge Manuel Marchena. ...

Elena acted as

Republican Left of Catalonia The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a Catalan independence movement, pro-Catalan independence, social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Catalonia, p ...

's legal co-ordinator and accompanied the defendants during their defence in court. During the 2018

Catalan government The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label= Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed ...

formation, he was nominated by ERC to be

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

but ultimately wasn't appointed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Quim Torra Joaquim Torra i Pla (; born 28 December 1962), known as Quim Torra, is a Catalan lawyer and journalist from Spain. He served as President of the Government of Catalonia from 17 May 2018 to 28 September 2020, when the Supreme Court of Spain conf ...

due to the need to balance the distribution of portfolios amongst the coalition partners. On 26 May 2021 he was sworn in as

in the new government of President

Pere Aragonès Pere Aragonès i Garcia (; born 16 November 1982) is a Catalan lawyer and politician from Spain, serving as the President of the Government of Catalonia since 22 May 2021. He previously served between 2018 and 2021 as Vice President and Ministe ...

Electoral history

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elena, Joan Ignasi 1968 births Aragonès Government Interior ministers of Catalonia Lawyers from Catalonia Living people Mayors of places in Catalonia Members of the 4th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 10th Parliament of Catalonia People from Vilanova i la Geltrú Socialists' Party of Catalonia politicians University of Barcelona alumni