Damià Calvet i Valera (born 23 May 1968) is a Spanish politician from

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

and who served as Minister of Territory and Sustainability of Catalonia between 2018 and 2021. Born in 1968 in

Vilanova i la Geltrú Vilanova i la Geltrú () is the capital city of Garraf ''comarca'', in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Historically, it is the result of the aggregation of the medieval center of La Geltrú with the center built outside the medieval w ...

, Calvet studied construction engineering at La Salle before becoming an academic. He later worked in the private sector in the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

before holding various senior positions at 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 ...

. He was a deputy mayor of

Sant Cugat del Vallès Sant Cugat del Vallès () is a town and municipality north of Barcelona, Catalonia. Known as ''Castrum Octavianum'' in antiquity (which means ''the castle of Octavianus'') and as ''Pins del Vallès'' during the Second Spanish Republic, it is nam ...

, a municipality in north-eastern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, before being appointed Minister of Territory and Sustainability in June 2018.

Early life

Calvet was born on 23 May 1968 in

. He has a degree in construction engineering from La Salle (

Ramon Llull University University Ramon Llull (, URL; ) is a private university located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain established in 1990. Currently it is made up of several different colleges specializing in different subjects; most of which are located in downtown Ba ...

), a diploma in technical architecture from

Polytechnic University of Catalonia The Polytechnic University of Catalonia (, , ; UPC), currently referred to as BarcelonaTech, is the largest polytechnic university in Catalonia, Spain. UPC's objectives are based on internationalization, as it is one of Europe's techni ...

(UPC) and a postgraduate degree in real estate management from

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona (; Spanish: ; ; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. , the university consists of 57 departments in the experimental, lif ...

. Calvet was a member the Nationalist Youth of Catalonia (Joventut Nacionalista de Catalunya) from 1984 to 1998 and was secretary and assistant general-secretary organisation. He was a member of the

Democratic Convergence of Catalonia The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (; , CDC), frequently shortened as Convergence (; ) was a Catalan nationalist, liberal political party in Catalonia (Spain), currently still existing without any political activity. The party was originall ...

(CDC) of which he was national counselor.

Career

Calvet taught at the UPC's Building Project Management Master's Program and was in charge of Institutional Relations at the

United Nations University The is the think tank and academic arm of the United Nations. Headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, with diplomatic status as a UN institution, its mission is to help resolve list of global issues, global issues related to Human development ...

in Barcelona from 1992 to 1995. Calvet was Chief of Cabinet for the Minister of Territorial Policy and Public Works from 1997 to 2001 and Director-General of Architecture and Housing at the

from 2001 to 2004. From 2011 to 2013 he was Secretary of Territory and Mobility in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Artur Mas Artur Mas i Gavarró (; born 31 January 1956) is a Catalan politician from Spain. He was president of the Government of Catalonia from 2010 to 2015 and acting president from September 2015 to 12 January 2016. Mas is a long time member of De ...

. He was appointed director of the Institut Català del Sòl (INCASÒL) in 2013. He was president of Centrals i Infraestructures per a la Mobilitat i les Activitats Logístiques (CIMALSA), a company owned by the Generalitat and responsible for promotion, development and management of infrastructures and centres for the transport of goods and logistics. Calvet worked in the private sector in the

as the regional manager for the real estate group Vertix. During his time in the islands he was also a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, vice-president of the Association of Real Estate Promoters of the Balearic Islands (PROINBA), member of the board of directors of the Balearic Institute of Housing (IBAVI), urban development manager for Banco Sabadell in the Balearics and was founding partner of Dèria Editors. Calvet contested the 2015 local elections as a

Convergence and Union Convergence and Union (, 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 counterpart, the Democratic ...

(CiU)

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 parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

candidate in

and was elected. He was deputy mayor for Urban Planning, Mobility and Housing and Government Coordinator in

. He resigned as deputy mayor in June 2018. Govern de Catalunya foto oficial 2018

On 19 May 2018 newly elected

President of Catalonia 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsidente ...

Quim Torra Joaquim Torra i Pla (; born 28 December 1962), known as Quim Torra, is a Catalans, 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 S ...

nominated a new government in which Josep Rull, who was in jail, was to be Minister of Territory and Sustainability. However, the

Spanish government The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the o ...

condemned the inclusion of jailed/exiled politicians in the government as provocative and refused to approve Torra's appointments or to revoke

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 ...

. Faced with this opposition Torra announced a new government on 29 May 2018 without the jailed/exiled politicians. Calvet was to be Minister of Territory and Sustainability in the new government. He was sworn in on 2 June 2018 at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya. In July 2020 Calvet joined the newly formed Together for Catalonia political party.

Electoral history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvet, Damià 1968 births Academic staff of United Nations University Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni Catalan European Democratic Party politicians Academics from Catalonia Convergence and Union politicians Democratic Convergence of Catalonia politicians Environment ministers of Catalonia Housing ministers of Catalonia Living people National Call for the Republic politicians People from Vilanova i la Geltrú Planning ministers of Catalonia Polytechnic University of Catalonia alumni Academic staff of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia Public works ministers of Catalonia University Ramon Llull alumni Together for Catalonia (2020) politicians Torra Government Transport ministers of Catalonia Barcelona municipal councillors (2023–2027)