Pere Aragonès i Garcia (; born 16 November 1982) is a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

lawyer and politician from

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 ...

, serving as the

President of the Government 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 ...

since 22 May 2021. He previously served between 2018 and 2021 as

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

and Minister of Economy and Finance of Catalonia, as well as Acting President since 28 September 2020. He is a member of the

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 ...

(ERC) political party. Born in 1982 in

Pineda de Mar Pineda de Mar is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Maresme in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the coast between Calella and Santa Susanna. The main N-II road and a RENFE railway line run through the town. The town centre has several ...

, Aragonès studied law at the

Open University of Catalonia The Open University of Catalonia ( ca, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, UOC; ) is a private open university based in Barcelona, Spain. The UOC offers graduate and postgraduate programs in Catalan, Spanish and English in fields such as Psycholog ...

and economics at 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 ...

before becoming a lawyer and an academic. He was a 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 ...

from December 2006 to January 2016 when he was appointed Secretary of Economy in the

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 ...

. He was a member of the municipal council in Pineda de Mar from May 2011 to April 2018 and was appointed Vice President and Minister of Economy and Finance of Catalonia in June 2018.

Early life

Aragonès was born on 16 November 1982 in

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 ...

. His grandfather , a textile businessman and real estate tychoon, also served as the mayor of his hometown during the

Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Sp ...

, continuing in the post throughout the Transition as a member of Democratic Reform of Catalonia and People's Alliance up until 1987. In the 1990s, his father served as municipal councillor for

Convergence and Union Convergence and Union ( ca, Convergència i Unió, CiU; ) was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller coun ...

in Pineda. He has a degree in law from the

and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in economic history from the

(UB). He has also studied public policy and economic development at the

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

. He is currently studying for a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in economic history from UB. Aragonès joined the

Young Republican Left of Catalonia The Republican Youth (in Catalan: ''Jovent Republicà'') is a left-wing political party, and also the youth wing of the Republican Left of Catalonia (in Catalan: ''Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya'', ERC), a Catalan pro-independence party. Unti ...

, the youth wing of the

, in 1998 and was its national spokesperson from 2003 to 2007. He joined ERC in 2000. He has been a member of ERC's executive since 2003 and is currently number three in the party. He is also a member of the

Òmnium Cultural Òmnium Cultural () is a Catalan association based in Barcelona, Catalonia. It was originally created in the 1960s to promote the Catalan language and spread Catalan culture. Over the years it has increased its involvement in broader political is ...

Career

Aragonès worked at a

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

specialising in corporate and public administration law. He was a

researcher Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

at the Institut Ignasi Villalonga d'Economia i Empresa and an associate professor at the

University of Perpignan The University of Perpignan (french: Université de Perpignan; ca, Universitat de Perpinyà Via Domitia) is a French university, located in Perpignan. History The first university of Perpignan was established in 1349 by King Peter IV of Arago ...

. In January 2016 he was appointed the

Generalitat de Catalunya 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 b ...

's Secretary of Economy in January 2016. At the 2003 regional election Aragonès was placed 38th on the

'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 2006 regional election he was placed 12th on the ERC's list of candidates in the Province of Barcelona but the party only managed to win 11 seats in the province and as a result he was not elected again. In December 2006, he was appointed to the

following the resignation of

Josep Huguet Josep Huguet i Biosca (born 8 March 1951) was List of Ministers of Enterprise and Employment of Catalonia, Minister of Trade, Tourism and Consumer Affairs of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 20 October 2004 until 12 May 2006 and List of Minister ...

. Aragonès was placed 7th on ERC's list of candidates

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in the Province of Barcelona and, although the party only managed to win six seats in the province, he was re-elected after the second placed candidate

Ernest Benach Ernest Benach i Pasqual (; born Reus, Baix Camp, 12 November 1959) was the President of the Catalan Parliament from 2003 to 2010. He is a member of the Catalan independentist party Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC). Education and professional ba ...

declined to take his seat in the Catalan parliament. He was re-elected at the

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and

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regional elections. He resigned from parliament upon being appointed Secretary of Economy. Govern de Catalunya foto oficial 2018

Aragonès contested the 2011 local elections as a Republican Left of Catalonia-Junts per Pineda-Acord Municipal (ERC-JP-AM)

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 ...

candidate in

and was elected. He was re-elected at the 2015 local elections. He resigned from Pineda de Mar Municipal Council in April 2018. On 19 May 2018, newly elected

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 ...

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 ...

nominated a new government in which Aragonès was to be

and Minister of Economy and Finance. He was sworn in on 2 June 2018 at the

Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya The Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya is a historic palace in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It houses the offices of the Presidency of the Generalitat de Catalunya. It is one of the few buildings of medieval origin in Europe that still function ...

. On 15 March 2020 Aragonès announced on

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that he had contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

during the

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. On 28 September 2020, following the rule issued by the

Spanish Supreme Court The Supreme Court ('', TS'') is the highest court in the Kingdom of Spain. Originally established pursuant to Title V of the Constitution of 1812 to replace —in all matters that affected justice— the System of Councils, and currently regula ...

that barred

Joaquim Torra from chairing any public office, he assumed the position as acting President of the region. On 21 May 2021, after the 2021 Catalan elections and an agreement with Junts, he became the first President of Catalonia from Esquerra Republicana since

Josep Tarradellas Josep Tarradellas i Joan (), 1st Marquess of Tarradellas (19 February 1899 – 10 June 1988) was a Catalan politician known for his role as the first president of the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya), after its re-establishment ...

in the 1980s. In June 2021, he welcomed the decision by

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having pr ...

to pardon those convicted for the 2017 independence attempt but said that he would pursue for an amnesty for all those involved in that year's events, which would benefit over 3,000 people.

Electoral history

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aragonès, Pere 1982 births Academics from Catalonia Lawyers from Catalonia Municipal councillors in the province of Barcelona Economy ministers of Catalonia Finance ministers of Catalonia Living people Members of the 8th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 9th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 10th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 11th Parliament of Catalonia People from Maresme Presidents of the Government of Catalonia Republican Left of Catalonia politicians Torra Government University of Barcelona alumni Vice Presidents of Catalonia