Joan Josep Nuet i Pujals (born 6 August 1964) is a Spanish 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 ...

who currently serves as

Member of 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 Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He was previously a member of the

Senate of Spain The Senate ( es, Senado) is the upper house of the Cortes Generales, which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. Th ...

and 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 ...

. A member of the

Party of the Communists of Catalonia Party of the Communists of Catalonia ( ca, Partit dels i les Comunistes de Catalunya) was a communist party in Catalonia that existed from 1982 to 2014. The main organ of PCC was ''Avant'' and the theoretical organ was ''Realitat''. Every year the ...

since 1986, Nuet became its secretary-general in January 2010. He has been secretary-general of the

Communists of Catalonia Communists of Catalonia ( ca, Comunistes de Catalunya) is a communist party in Catalonia founded in 2014. Communists of Catalonia was founded on November 1, 2014, through the merger of the Party of the Communists of Catalonia (PCC), the Living U ...

since its formation in November 2014. He was co-ordinator general of the United and Alternative Left from June 2012 to June 2019. Nuet was a member of Montcada i Reixac Municipal Council from 1991 to 2003 and served two terms as a deputy mayor. He was an appointed member of the Senate of Spain from December 2006 to February 2011. He was a member of the Congress of Deputies from December 2011 to October 2015 and a member of the Parliament of Catalonia from October 2015 till his resignation in March 2019. He was Third Secretary of the Parliament of Catalonia from October 2015 to October 2017. He was elected to the Congress of Deputies at the

April April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. It is the first of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the second of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. April is commonly associated with ...

and November 2019 Spanish general election. After a trial on charges of disobedience for his role in the

Catalan declaration of independence The Catalan declaration of independence ( ca, Declaració d'independència de Catalunya; es, Declaración de Independencia de Cataluña) was a resolution that was passed by the Parliament of Catalonia on 27 October 2017, which declared the inde ...

, he was handed down an eight-month ban from public office and expelled from Congress on 4 May 2021.

Early life

Nuet was born on 6 August 1964 in Reus,

. He is the son of Joan Nuet i Pallèja, a Republican

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

of the Battle of the Ebro, and Montserrat Pujals. He has a sister, Montserrat. Nuet left Reus in 1988 to study history in

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

, specialising in

contemporary history Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is ...

. He lived 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 ...

for a couple of years before settling in

Montcada i Reixac Montcada i Reixac (In Spanish Moncada y Reixach ) (), often referred to as simply Montcada, is a municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated at the c ...

with his partner. Nuet has a degree in geography and history 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 ...

Career

Party of the Communists of Catalonia

Nuet joined the

(PCC) in 1986 and served as secretary-general of its youth wing, the

Collectives of Young Communists – Communist Youth Collectives of Young Communists – Communist Youth (''Col·lectius de Joves Comunistes - Joventut Comunista''), more known simply as "CJC" or "Joventut Comunista", is the youth wing of the Party of the Communists of Catalonia (''Partit dels i les ...

(CJC-JC). One of his earliest political acts was campaigning against Spain joining

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

in the 1986 referendum. He was a member of Montcada i Reixac Municipal Council from 1991 to 2003 and was deputy mayor from 1991 to 1999. He was a metropolitan councillor for the

Metropolitan Area of Barcelona The Barcelona urban area is an urban area in Catalonia (Spain) centered on the city of Barcelona and located less than 100 km south of the border with France. With a population of over 5 million, it is the most populous urban area on the Med ...

(AMB) from 1992 to 1999. Nuet was one of the founders of the United and Alternative Left (EUiA), the Catalan wing of the United Left (IU), in 1998 and was a member of its national commission and the national council. At the 1999 regional election he was placed 36th on the EUiA

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 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 . Nuet took part in the negotiations that led to the 2002 electoral agreement between EUiA and Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV). At the 2004 general election he was placed third on the

Initiative for Catalonia Greens–United and Alternative Left In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...

(ICV–EUiA) electoral alliance'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 . At the IU's 8th Assembly in December 2004 Nuet was elected to the IU's federal political council, federal executive presidency and federal permanent commission. In December 2006 Nuet was appointed to the

by the

, replacing Jaume Bosch. At the 2008 general election Nuet was placed third on the ICV–EUiA electoral alliance's list of candidates in the Province of Barcelona but the alliance only managed to win one seat in the province and as a result he failed to get elected. He was re-appointed to the Senate in March 2008. At the IU's 9th Assembly in November 2008 Nuet headed the ''Nacional II'' list of candidates in the election of the IU's federal political council (CPF) which came in third, behind the lists headed by Cayo Lara and

Inés Sabanés Inés Sabanés Nadal (born 1953) is a Spanish eco-socialist politician. She served as Madrid's Councillor for the Environment and Mobility from 2015 to 2019. Biography Born on 24 June 1953 in Cubells, province of Lleida. She moved to Madrid to ...

, after receiving 144 of the 761 votes (19%), translating into 17 out of 90 seats on the CPF. As none of the lists obtained more than 50% of the votes the 90 elected members of the CPF postponed electing a General Co-ordinator (leader) until the remaining 90 members of the CPF were appointed by the IU's various federations. At the meeting of the CPF on 14 December 2008 Nuet came second in the election for General Co-ordinator after receiving 29 of the 167 votes (17%), trailing behind Lara who received 92 votes. Nuet became the CPF member with responsibility for internal co-ordination and he was also a member of the IU's federal executive committee. Nuet was the only Spanish politician on board the ''Spirit of Humanity'', the Free Gaza Movement ship that tried unsuccessfully to take

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

to Gaza in January 2009 following the Israeli invasion.

Communists of Catalonia

At the PCC's 12th Congress in Cotxeres de Sants in January 2010 Nuet was elected secretary-general unanimously. In February 2011 ICV–EUiA nominated

Joan Saura Joan Saura i Laporta is a Green ICV Spanish politician in Catalonia. He was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, in 1950. He studied at the Escola d'Enginyeria Tècnica (Technical Engineering School), where he specialized in Industrial Chemistry. In ...

, despite the objections of EUiA, to be its representative in the Senate resulting in Nuet losing his seat. Nuet contested the 2011 general election as a

Plural Left The Gauche Plurielle (French for ''Plural Left'') was a left-wing coalition in France, composed of the Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS), the French Communist Party (''Parti communiste français'' or PCF), the Greens, the Left Radi ...

electoral alliance candidate in the Province of Barcelona and was elected to 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 ...

. He was elected the EUiA's co-ordinator general in June 2012 after receiving 114 of the 134 votes (85%) of the alliance's national council. In November 2014, at the Congress of Communist Unity held at the La Farga in

L'Hospitalet de Llobregat L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (; es, Hospitalet de Llobregat), often shortened to L'Hospitalet or just L'H, is a municipality of Spain, located to the immediate southwest of Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is part of the Bar ...

, Nuet was elected secretary-general of the newly formed

. Nuet contested the 2015 regional election as a

Catalunya Sí que es Pot Catalunya Sí que es Pot ( en, "Catalonia Yes We Can", also translated as "Catalonia It Is Possible" or "Yes, Catalonia Can") was a left-wing coalition composed of Podemos, Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV) and United and Alternative Left ...

electoral alliance candidate in the Province of Barcelona and was elected to the

. He was elected to the

Board of the Parliament of Catalonia The Board of the Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Mesa del Parlament) is the body responsible for the management of the Parliament of Catalonia. It is composed of the President of the Parliament of Catalonia, President of the Parliament, the two Vi ...

Third Secretary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings ...

on 26 October 2015. Nuet was elected a member to the executive committee of Un País en Comú (Catalunya en Comú) at its founding assembly in

Vall d'Hebron Vall d'Hebron is a neighborhood in the ''Horta-Guinardó'' district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Four venues in the area hosted competitions for the 1992 Summer Olympics. The Barcelona Metro line L3 stations of Vall d'Hebron, Montbau and ...

April 2017.

Catalan independence crisis

In June 2017

President of Catalonia The President of the Government of Catalonia ( ca, President de la Generalitat de Catalunya, ) is one of the bodies that the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia stipulates as part of the Generalitat de Catalunya, others being the Parliament, the gov ...

Carles Puigdemont announced that a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on Catalan independence would be held on 1 October 2017. The Catalan Parliament passed

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

on 6 September 2017 authorising the referendum which would be binding and based on a simple majority without a minimum threshold. The following day

Constitutional Court of Spain The Constitutional Court ( es, Tribunal Constitucional) is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local in Spa ...

suspended the legislation, blocking the referendum. 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 ...

put into effect

Operation Anubis The Operation Anubis was a police operation in Catalonia, Spain, initiated on 20 September 2017 by the Civil Guard following orders of the trial court number 13 of Barcelona, directed by judge Juan Antonio Ramírez Sunyer. Its aim was to dismantl ...

in order to disrupt the organisation of the referendum and arrested Catalan government officials. Despite this the referendum went ahead though it was boycotted by unionists and turnout was only 43%. 92% of those who voted supported independence. Around 900 people were injured as the

Spanish police Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

used violence to try to prevent voting in the referendum. On 27 October 2017 the Catalan Parliament declared independence in a vote boycotted by opposition MPs. Almost immediately the

invoked article 155 of the constitution, dismissing Puigdemont and the Catalan government and imposing

direct rule Direct rule is when an imperial or central power takes direct control over the legislature, executive and civil administration of an otherwise largely self-governing territory. Examples Chechnya In 1991, Chechen separatists declared independence o ...

on Catalonia. The following day Spanish Prime Minister

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...

dissolved the Catalan Parliament and called for fresh regional elections on 21 December 2017. On 30 October 2017

Spanish Attorney General The Attorney General of the State ''(')'', or also, Prosecutor General, is the head of the Prosecution Ministry (''Ministerio Fiscal''), the body with functional autonomy in the Judiciary, that has constitutionally been entrusted with the promoti ...

José Manuel Maza José Manuel Maza Martín (23 October 1951 – 18 November 2017) was a Spanish prosecutor, judge, criminologist and writer. He served as the 89th Attorney General of Spain from November 2016 until his death on 18 November 2017. Legal career He ...

laid charges of

rebellion Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

and misuse of public funds at the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

against Nuet and five other members of the

( Ramona Barrufet, Lluís Corominas,

Carme Forcadell Maria Carme Forcadell i Lluís (born 29 May 1955) is a Spanish politician from Catalonia. She is the former President of the Parliament of Catalonia, as well as a Catalan high school teacher, known for her Catalan independence activism. She was ...

, Lluís Guinó and

Anna Simó Anna Simó i Castelló (born 26 July 1968) is a Spanish Catalan politician. A member of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), she became the Minister of Social Welfare and Family Affairs of the Generalitat de Catalunya in 2003 as part of the fi ...

). The charges carried maximum sentences of 30, 15 and 6 years in prison respectively. Nuet and the other members of the board appeared before Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena on 9 November 2017. Nuet was released without any precautionary measures but the other five had to pay bail (€100,000 for Forcadell, €25,000 each for Barrufet, Corominas, Guinó and Simó), surrender their passport and present themselves at a court weekly. The bail bonds were paid by the

Catalan National Assembly The Assemblea Nacional Catalana ("Catalan National Assembly"; ANC by its Catalan acronym) is an organization that seeks the political independence of Catalonia from Spain. It also promotes the independence of other Catalan-speaking regions, which ...

After a four-month judicial investigation into the referendum and declaration of independence Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena issued a 70-page ruling on 23 March 2018 in which he ordered that 25 of the 28 Catalan politicians and activists under investigation be tried for rebellion, embezzlement or disobedience. Nuet was charged with disobeying an order of the Constitutional Court (article 410 of the criminal code). A pre-trial hearing commenced on 18 December 2018 at the Supreme Court at which defence lawyers argued that the court was not competent to hear charges of rebellion or disobedience and that it should be heard at the

High Court of Justice of Catalonia The High Court of Justice of Catalonia ( ca, Tribunal Superior de Justícia de Catalunya, TSJC) is the highest body and last judicial instance of the Spanish judiciary in Catalonia. Unlike the Parliament of Catalonia (legislative branch) or the ...

. On 27 December 2018 the Supreme Court ruled that, although they were competent to hear all the charges, the six defendants charged only with disobedience (Barrufet,

Mireia Boya Mireia Boya Busquet (born 1979) is a Catalan scientist, activist, and politician from Spain. She is a councilor of the Aran municipality of Les. Since February 2018 she has been part of the national secretariat of the Popular Unity Candidacy (C ...

, Corominas, Guinó, Nuet and Simó) would be tried at the High Court of Justice of Catalonia.

Sobiranistes

Nuet was re-elected at the 2017 regional election. In October 2018 Nuet,

Elisenda Alamany Elisenda Alamany i Gutiérrez (born 1983) is a Spanish teacher and politician, currently serving as a member of the City Council of Barcelona, since June 2019. From January 2018 to April 2019 she was a deputy in the 12th Legislature of the Parli ...

and others critical of the Catalunya en Comú leadership's lack of support for Catalan

sovereigntism Sovereigntism, sovereignism or souverainism (from french: souverainisme, , meaning the ideology of sovereignty) is the notion of having control over one's conditions of existence, whether at the level of the self, social group, region, nation o ...

formed the

Sobiranistes Sobiranistes ( en, "Sovereigntists") is a political party of the republican and Catalan sovereigntist left, formed by a splinter group from Catalunya en Comú (CatComú) led by Joan Josep Nuet and Elisenda Alamany, deputies in the Parliament of C ...

platform. In March 2019 Communists of Catalonia voted to include Nuet on the secessionist

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 (ERC) list of candidates for the 2019 general election. As a result, he was expelled from the Catalunya en Comú

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamentar ...

. On 18 March 2019 Nuet announced that he was resigning from the Parliament of Catalonia, leaving Catalunya en Comú and that he and the Sobiranistes would align themselves with ERC. Nuet contested the 2019 general election as a Republican Left of Catalonia–Sovereigntists electoral alliance candidate in the Province of Barcelona and was re-elected to the Congress of Deputies. Nuet's decision to contest the general election in alliance with the ERC also led to criticism within EUiA and in June 2019 he announced he was leaving the EUiA.

Personal life

Nuet is married and has a son.

Electoral history

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuet, Joan Josep 1964 births Catalunya en Comú politicians Communists of Catalonia politicians ICV–EUiA politicians Living people Members of the 10th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 13th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 14th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 11th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 12th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 8th Senate of Spain Members of the 9th Senate of Spain Municipal councillors in the province of Barcelona Party of the Communists of Catalonia politicians People expelled from public office People from Reus People from Vallès Occidental Third Secretaries of the Parliament of Catalonia United and Alternative Left politicians University of Barcelona alumni