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 (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

) is a Spanish 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 ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also ...

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

Catalan Countries The Catalan Countries ( ca, països catalans, , ) refers to those territories where the Catalan language is spoken. They include the Spanish regions of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencia, and parts of Aragon (''La Franja'') and Murcia ( ...

, 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 ...

. 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 (; oc, label= Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed ...

. 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 ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

, 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 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 #1 ...

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

from the UB. He then enrolled as a teacher of the

Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as '' Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern ...

at the University School of

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

(from 1978 to 1982). In the University world, he was also professor and vicepresident of the Catalan Summer University (''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 were ...

'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 Catalonia, Spain. It is one of the three comarques formed in the 1936 comarcal division of Camp de Tarragona. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, between the comarques of Baix Penedès to the northeast a ...

division), ''Llull-Federació d'Entitats dels Països Catalans'' (member of its board between 1991–1995), the '' castellers'' association ''Colla Jove Xiquets de Tarragona'' (''colla'' means association), the Catalan Language Writers Association, the PEN Club 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 the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...

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" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

and was jailed in 1973 when the 113 members of the Permanent Board of Catalonia's Assembly were arrested and the board was dissolved. Before entering, in 1987, ERC, he was an active member of the Socialist National Liberation Party ( PSAN) 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 The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

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 the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. The Spanish spelling of the name, ''Villafranca del Panadés'', is no longer in official use since 1982 (Law 12/1982, of ...

. He was reelected in

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capit ...

(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 (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, a ...

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 (; oc, label= Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed ...

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

Pasqual Maragall Pasqual Maragall i Mira (; born 13 January 1941) is a Spanish 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. Early l ...

, 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 ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...

in the elections of March 2004 and his party got 8 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 ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...

Institutional background

Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira has been deputy at the

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 m ...

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