Josep Bargalló i Valls (born 3 October 1958) is a Spanish teacher and 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 the current

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

. Born in 1958 in

Torredembarra Torredembarra (), normally called La Torre by its inhabitants, is a town in the ''comarca'' of the Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the Costa Daurada, it faces Altafulla to the west, La Pobla de Monto ...

, Bargalló studied philology at 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, ...

before becoming a teacher. He was a member of the municipal council in Torredembarra from 1995 to 2003. He was a member of 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 ...

from April 1992 to September 2003 when he retired from politics. However, in December 2003 he was appointed Minister of Education of Catalonia and in February 2004 he was promoted to Chief Advisor/ First Minister of Catalonia. Bargalló and other

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 ...

ministers were sacked from the Catalan government in May 2006. Bargalló was re-elected to the Parliament of Catalonia in December 2006 but resigned in January 2007 after being appointed director of the

Institut Ramon Llull The Institut Ramon Llull (English: Ramon Llull Institute) is a consortium consisting of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government), the Govern de les Illes Balears (Government of the Balearic Islands) and the City Council of Barcelona, A ...

, a position he held until December 2010. He was also director of the

Fundació Ramon Llull The Fundació Ramon Llull (, English: "Ramon Llull Foundation"), also known by the acronym FRL, is an international organization constituted in 2008 in order to promote the Catalan language and culture internationally. It was established by the g ...

from 2008 to 2010. Bargalló returned to politics in June 2018 when he was appointed Minister of Education of Catalonia for a second time.

Early life

Bargalló was born on 3 October 1958 in

. He has 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) in

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 ...

and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

in advanced studies of Catalan language, literature and culture from the

Rovira i Virgili University University of Rovira i Virgili (; ) is located in the Catalan cities of Tarragona, Reus, Tortosa Vila-seca, el Vendrell and Vilafranca del Penedès (Spain). Its name is in honor of Antoni Rovira i Virgili. The Universitat Rovira i Virgili i ...

(URV).

Career

Bargalló started working as a teacher in 1981 and was headteacher of Pons d’Icart Secondary School in

from 1985 to 1987. He has been a member of the Unió dels Treballadors d'Ensenyament de Catalunya (USTEC·STEs), a teachers' union, since 1980. Bargalló has also taught several post-graduate courses. Since 2011 he has been vice-president of the Josep Irla Foundation graduate course in Catalan philology at UB and co-ordinator of the Institute of Educational Sciences at URV. Bargalló is a member of the Societat Catalana de Llengua i Literatura, part of the

Institut d'Estudis Catalans The Institute for Catalan Studies ( ), also known by the acronym and initialism, acronym IEC, is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture". It is based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spai ...

. He has worked in the publishing sector, as a literary director for several collections and publishing houses. He was co-ordinator of the Capitell de Columna edicions collection between 1988 and 1991 and literary director of Edicions El Mèdol from 1989 to 1998. He has written several books and essays on history and literature as well as

film script A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a ''teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writ ...

s. He has also been a literature critic for newspapers and specialist magazines. Bargalló is a member of the Colla Castellera Nois de la Torre, Ball de Diables de Torredembarra and the group of carriers of the Virgen de Torredembarra dragon. Bargalló was director of the

from December 2006 to December 2010 and director of the

from 2008 to 2010.

Politics

Bargalló's political life began in the Assemblea de Catalunya, which he founded, in Torredembarra. Over the years he has also been a member of the

Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia The Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (, PSUC) was a communist political party active in Catalonia between 1936 and 1997. It was the Catalan branch of the Communist Party of Spain and the only party not from a sovereign state to be a full membe ...

(PSUC), Socialist Party of National Liberation (PSAN) and Left Nationalists (NE). Bargalló contested the 1992 regional election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

(ERC) candidate in the

Province of Tarragona Tarragona (; ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered by the provinces of Castellón, Teruel, Zaragoza, Lleida and Barcelona and by the Mediterranean Sea. The province's po ...

and was elected to the

. He joined ERC in 1995. He was re-elected at the

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

regional elections. Bargalló contested the 1995 local elections as an ERC candidate in Torredembarra and was elected. He was re-elected at the

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

local elections. He was deputy mayor of Torredembarra from 1999 and 2003. Bargalló chose to retire from politics in 2003 and at the 2003 regional election he was placed 18th on ERC's list of candidates in the Province of Tarragona but as the party only managed to win three seats in the province he was not re-elected. However, after the election leftist parties formed a

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 ...

led by

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. ...

and in December 2003 Bargalló was appointed

. He was appointed Chief Advisor (re-designated

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 ' ...

in March 2005) in February 2014 following the resignation of Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira. Bargalló and other ERC ministers were sacked from the government in May 2006 as a result the ERC's refusal to support the 2006

Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006 () provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Catalonia, the political institutions of the Ca ...

Bargalló contested the 2006 regional election as an ERC candidate in the Province of Tarragona and was re-elected. He resigned from parliament on 3 January 2007 after being appointed director of the Institut Ramon Llull. 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 Bargalló was to be

. He was sworn in on 2 June 2018 at the

Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya The Palace of the Generalitat of Catalonia ( Catalan: ''Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya'', ; Spanish: ''Palacio de la Generalidad de Cataluña'') is a historic palace in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It houses the offices of the Presidency ...

Published works

* ''Literatura Catalana del Segle XVI al XVIII'' (1987, Teide; ) * ''Un Segle de Castells: de 1900 a 2000 en Dades'' (2001, Cossetània Edicions; ) * ''Manual de Mètrica i Versificació Catalanes'' (2007, Editorial Empúries; ) * ''Què és la Mètrica: Introducció a la Versificació Catalana'' (2007, Edicions; ) * ''Les Set Vides de Pere Romeu: Indians, Modernistes i Sportsmen'' (2016, A Contra Vent; )

Electoral history

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bargallo, Josep 1958 births Academics from Catalonia Philologists from Catalonia Educators from Catalonia Writers from Catalonia Spanish municipal councillors Education ministers of Catalonia First ministers of Generalitat de Catalunya Living people Members of the 4th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 5th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 6th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 8th Parliament of Catalonia People from Tarragonès Republican Left of Catalonia politicians Torra Government University of Barcelona alumni