Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira (; born 17 May 1952 in

Cambrils Cambrils () is a coastal town in the comarca of Baix Camp, province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The town is near the tourist town Salou and is frequently visited by those travelling by air using Reus Airport. History Roman Empire to Middl ...

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 ...

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 ...

) is a Catalan politician. He was the vice-president of the Catalan Government from 2006 to 2010. From 1996 to 2008 he was the leader 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 ...

(''Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya'', ERC). ERC campaigns for Catalonia's independence from Spain and, secondarily, extend it to other

Catalan Countries The Catalan Countries (, ) refers to the territories where the Catalan language is spoken. They include the Spanish regions of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencian Community, and parts of Aragon ('' La Franja'') and Murcia ( Carche), as ...

, the whole Catalan linguistic domain. He was one of the two vice presidents of the Catalan autonomous government formed after the

2006 Catalan regional election The 2006 Catalan regional election was held on Wednesday, 1 November 2006, to elect the 8th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. This was a snap election, called roughly one y ...

. He now serves as vice president of the Ramon Llull Foundation. Previously, after the previous 2003 cabinet, he was appointed

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

(Catalan: ''conseller en cap'') 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 ...

. After his, at times, controversial style, eventually the other partners in the cabinet forced him to resign after his action culminated in a secret meeting with representatives of the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

separatist group

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

, which was leaked to the press; this was followed by general political pressure asking for his resignation.

Education and professional background

Carod-Rovira received a bachelor's 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 UB. He then enrolled as a teacher of the

Catalan language Catalan () is a Western Romance languages, Western Romance language and is the official language of Andorra, and the official language of three autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic I ...

at the University School of

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

(from 1978 to 1982). In the university world, he was also professor and vice president of the

Catalan Summer University 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 #13 ...

(''Universitat Catalana d'Estiu'') between 1986 and 1995. Before this, he also worked as Head Technician of

Generalitat Generalitat (, literally in English 'Generality') is the name of two major medieval and early modern political institutions and their modern-day analogues in Kingdom of Spain. The ancient Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of Valencia we ...

's linguistic planning policy (1981–1988) and headed the Cultural Territorial Services of the

(1982 to 1984).

Civic background

Carod-Rovira has been involved in several civic organisations, among which are ''Òmnium Cultural'' (member of its board between 1986 and 1995 and president of its

Tarragonès Tarragonès () is a comarca (county) in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia (Spain). It lies on the Mediterranean coast, between the comarques of Baix Penedès to the northeast and Baix Camp to the south. Over 60% of the population live in the capital, ...

division), ''Llull-Federació d'Entitats dels Països Catalans'' (member of its board between 1991 and 1995), the ''

castellers A ''castell'' (: literally, ''castle'') is a Human tower (gymnastic formation), human tower built traditionally at festivals in a part of Catalonia (Spain), now also found in the rest of Catalonia, in the Balearic Islands, Balearic islands and ...

'' association ''Colla Jove Xiquets de Tarragona'' (''colla'' means association), the Catalan Language Writers Association, the

PEN Club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internati ...

of Catalonia and the ''Societat Catalana d'Onomàstica''. As a writer, he has published ''Rovira i Virgili i la qüestió nacional'' (1994), ''Marcel·lí Domingo, de l'escola a la República'' (1988), ''Tornar amb la gent'' (1997), ''Jubilar la Transició'' (1998), ''El futur a les mans'' (2003) and ''La nova Catalunya'' (2003). He also has contributed in the ''Catalans from America Dictionary'' and in the book ''America and Catalonia'', as well as several encyclopedias and specialized magazines. He has won several awards for historical essays and journalism.

Political background

He was actively involved in the fight against the

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

government of

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" * Franco of Cologne (mid to late 13th cent ...

and was jailed in 1973 when the 113 members of the Permanent Board of

Assembly of Catalonia The Assembly of Catalonia (Catalan language, Catalan: ''Assemblea de Catalunya'', Spanish language, Spanish: ''Asamblea de Cataluña'') was a unitary body of the anti-Francoist opposition of Catalonia created in November 1971. Its fundamental deman ...

were arrested and the board was dissolved. Before entering, in 1987, ERC, he was an active member of the Socialist National Liberation Party (

PSAN The Socialist Party of National Liberation ( Catalan: ''Partit Socialista d'Alliberament Nacional'', PSAN) was an independentist and communist party active in Catalonia. The PSAN was created in 1968 following a split in the more leftist sector of ...

) between 1970 and 1977 and of the Left Nationalists ( NE) between 1980 and 1986. Carod-Rovira also wrote the Resolution about the

right to self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international l ...

of the Catalan nation in 1989. Carod-Rovira was first elected general secretary of ERC in November 1996, in the 21st National Congress of the party at

Vilafranca del Penedès Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca, is the capital of Alt Penedès county in Penedès, Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the Penedès Depression on the left bank of the Foix River, and on the main axis of communication from Barcel ...

. He was reelected in

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

(22nd National Congress) by July 1998 and in

(23rd National Congress) by March 2001. Carod-Rovira is president of ERC since its 24th National Congress, held in

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

on 3 and 4 July 2004. After the Catalan elections in 2003, he achieved the position of

of 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 ...

between December 2003 and January 2004 in the coalition government led by socialist

Pasqual Maragall Pasqual Maragall Mira (; born 13 January 1941) is a Spanish retired politician and former President of Generalitat de Catalunya. He had previously been Mayor of Barcelona, from 1982 to 1997, and helped run the city's successful Olympic bid. ...

, when he was forced to resign over his secret meeting with

. He subsequently became a candidate for the

Spanish Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

in the elections of March 2004 and his party got eight seats and almost quadrupled its popular support. This represented a major boost for ERC, which had had at most one seat since the establishment of the Spanish modern democracy in 1979. After the elections, Carod-Rovira asked for its substitution as a deputy and remained in the

Catalan Parliament The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as deputies (//), who are elected for four-year terms or after extraordinary ...

Institutional background

Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira has been deputy at the

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as Deputy (legislator), deput ...

since 1988 and also was

of the

between December 2003 and January 2004. He was the vice president of the Catalan Government in the eighth constituency.

References

External links

Personal webpage (in Catalan)

Deputy webpage (in Catalan)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carod-Rovira, Josep-Lluis 1952 births Living people People from Baix Camp Republican Left of Catalonia politicians Presidents of the Republican Left of Catalonia Members of the Parliament of Catalonia First ministers of Generalitat de Catalunya General secretaries of the Republican Left of Catalonia Vice presidents of Catalonia Members of the 5th Parliament of Catalonia