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Anna Simó i Castelló (born 26 July 1968) is a Spanish Catalan
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
. A member of the
Republican Left of Catalonia The Republican Left of Catalonia (, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in Valencia, the Balearic Islands and t ...
(ERC), she became the Minister of Social Welfare and Family Affairs of the
Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is self-governed as an autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parliament of Catalonia, the President of the Govern ...
in 2003 as part of the first "Tripartite" coalition government formed by the
Socialists' Party of Catalonia The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (, PSC–PSOE) is a social democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Catalonia–Regrouping, led by Josep Pallach i Carolà, the Socia ...
, ERC and
Initiative for Catalonia Greens Initiative for Catalonia Greens (, ICV; ) was an eco-socialist political party in Catalonia. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was ...
, a position she held until ERC's ministers were removed from the government in May 2006.


Education and professional background

Anna Simó earned an undergraduate degree in Catalan
philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
from the
University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...
in 1991 and went on to complete a post-degree program in language planning at the same university in 1992. From 1990 to 2003, she worked for the Linguistic Normalisation Consortium (''Consorci per a la normalització lingüística''), including a stint as the head of the Linguistic Normalisation Center in the Ciutat Vella district of
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...
.


Civic background

She is a member of several associations, including ''Ca la Dona'' (Woman's House), the ''Centre Catòlic de L'Hospitalet'' (Catholic Center of L'Hospitalet) and the ''Centre d’Estudis de L'Hospitalet'' (L'Hospitalet Studies Center). She has also been affiliated with the CONC, a Catalan union confederated with the
CCOO The Workers' Commissions () since the 1970s has become the largest trade union in Spain. It has more than one million members, and is the most successful union in labor elections, competing with the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), which is ...
, since 1990, and served on the
works council A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of re ...
of the Linguistic Normalisation Consortium.


Political career

A member of the Republican Left of Catalonia since 1990, Simó was president of the local branch of ERC in
L'Hospitalet de Llobregat L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (; ), often shortened to L'Hospitalet or just L'H, is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Barcelonès Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'', in Catalonia (Spain). It is part of the Barcelona metropolitan area, ...
from 1996 to 2002. She has been a member of the ERC's national council since 1994 and of its national executive council since 1998, serving as the party's national secretary for social policy from 2001 to 2004. Simó was elected to the city council of l'Hospitalet in May 2003 and named to the local council of the
Barcelonès Barcelonès () is the most populated comarca of Catalonia, Spain. It contains Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well a ...
''
comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...
'', resigning both posts when she entered the Catalan government later that year. She was elected to the Catalan parliament in 2006 and was the spokeswoman for the party's parliamentary group, a position she held since 2008. Simó was named first secretary of the Parliament on 26 October 2015 until the dissolution of the parliament by the application of Article 155 on 27 October 2017.


Catalan independence crisis and judicial case

On 27 October 2017 the Catalan Parliament declared independence in a vote boycotted by opposition MPs. Almost immediately the
Senate of Spain The Senate () is the upper house of the , 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. The presiding officer of the ...
invoked article 155 of the constitution, dismissing Puigdemont and the
Catalan government The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is self-governed as an autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parliament of Catalonia, the President of the Governme ...
and imposing
direct rule In political science, 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 separat ...
on Catalonia. The following day
Spanish Prime Minister The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers. In this sense, the prime minister establishes the Gove ...
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 2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy, vote of no confidence ousted his government. A m ...
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 Public Prosecutor's Office (''Ministerio Fiscal''), the independent body within the Judiciary, that is tasked with promoting the operation of justice in def ...
José Manuel Maza laid charges of
rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
,
sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...
and misuse of public funds at the
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
against Corominas and five other members of the Board of the Parliament of Catalonia ( Ramona Barrufet,
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 w ...
, Lluís Guinó,
Joan Josep Nuet Joan Josep Nuet i Pujals (born 6 August 1964) is a Spaniards, Spanish politician from Catalonia who previously served as Member of the Congress of Deputies of Spain. He was previously a member of the Senate of Spain and the Parliament of Catalon ...
and
Lluís Corominas Lluís Maria Corominas i Díaz (born 14 February 1963) is a Catalan lawyer, politician and a former member of the Parliament of Catalonia. He is currently awaiting trial on charges of disobedience for his role in the Catalan declaration of inde ...
). Corominas was charged despite not being a member of the board at the time of the declaration of independence. The charges carried maximum sentences of 30, 15 and 6 years in prison respectively. Simó 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. 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. Corominas 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 () is the highest body and last judicial instance of the Spanish judiciary in Catalonia. Unlike the Parliament of Catalonia (legislative branch) or the Executive Council of Catalonia (executive branch), t ...
. 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, Corominas, Guinó, Nuet and Simó) would be tried at the High Court of Justice of Catalonia. In 2019, she was one of the defendants in 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 Legal case, case was tried by seven judges and was chaired by judge Manu ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simo, Anna 1968 births Living people First secretaries of the Parliament of Catalonia First vice-presidents of the Parliament of Catalonia Social affairs ministers of Catalonia Republican Left of Catalonia politicians Members of the 11th Parliament of Catalonia Women members of the Parliament of Catalonia 21st-century Spanish women politicians