New Catalan president pledges to work towards independence

Catalunya – at last – has a new president. Carles Puigdemont was sworn in (pictured above) as the 130th president of Catalunya on Sunday 10 January after more than three months of deadlock.

In his first speech, Mr Puigdemont said his mission would make Catalan sovereignty possible. He said: ‘We are drowning and we are humiliated financially, neglected by the state, and our identity and language are undervalued.’

The 27 September Catalan election resulted in pro-independence coalition Junts pel Si gaining nearly 40% of the votes and 62 seats in parliament. The other pro-independence force, the CUP, gained 10 seats, with just over 8% of the vote. Together this gave the pro-independence groups a majority 73 seats out of the total 135.

Artur Mas, previous president of Catalunya. Photographer: Pedro Madueño

However, the pro-independence groups were divided along other lines, and the anti-capitalist CUP refused to back Junts pel Si leader and previous president Artur Mas.

After weeks of uncertainty, an agreement was eventually reached, just before Catalunya would have been forced to call fresh elections. Carles Puigdemont, until this week the mayor of Girona, was elected with 70 votes in his favour, 63 against, and 2 abstentions.

Mr Puigdemont is president of the Associació de Municipis per la Independencia (Association of Municipalities for Independence) and was formerly a journalist. His wife, Marcela Topor, is editor of English-language publication Catalonia Today.

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