Ferran Bel i Accensi (born 1 June 1965) is a Spanish economist, academic 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 ...

. He is a former member of the

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 ...

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 ...

and the

Senate of Spain The Senate () is the upper house of the , which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. The presiding officer of the ...

Early life

Bel was born on 1 June 1965 in

Tortosa Tortosa (, ) is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buinaca, one of the hi ...

. He was educated at San José school and Joaquim Bau Institute high school. He has a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in economic and business sciences and a postgraduate qualification in economics and management of local and autonomous finance from 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, ...

(UB). He was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

at the Institut d'Estudis Autonòmics. Bel joined 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) in 1995 and was president of its local branch between 2000 and 2004 and regional president of

Baix Ebre Baix Ebre (, "Lower Ebro") is a comarca (county) on the coast in southern Catalonia. It is located in the region of Terres de l'Ebre Terres de l'Ebre (, in English 'Ebro, Ebre Lands') is the south-westernmost of the eight regions (Vegueria, ''v ...

from 2004 to 2007. He was on the CDC's national council from 2004 and national executive committee from 2008.

Career

Bel worked as an economist at a professional firm of advisors he founded in 1991. He was associate professor of public finance and corporate taxation at UB's Department of Economic Policy and Public Finance between 1990 and 2005. He was an associate professor at 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 ...

's (URV) Department of Private Procedural and Financial Law. He has been associate professor at URV's Department of Economics since 2012. Bel entered Tortosa Municipal Council following the resignation of Marià Curto. He contested the 2003 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 Tortosa and was re-elected. He was re-elected at the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

local elections. He was president of Baix Ebre County Council from 2003 to 2007. He was mayor of Tortosa between 2007 and 2018. Bel contested the 2011 general election as a CiU 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 contested the 2015 general election as a

Democracy and Freedom Democracy and Freedom (, DiL) was an electoral alliance in Catalonia established to contest the 2015 Spanish general election. It was formed by Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), Democrats of Catalonia (DC) and Reagrupament (RI.cat). Hi ...

(DiL) electoral alliance candidate in the

and was elected to the

. He was re-elected at the 2016 general election. At the 2019 general election Bel was placed 2nd on the Together for Catalonia electoral alliance's list of candidates in the Province of Tarragona but the alliance only managed to win one seat in the province and as a result he failed to get re-elected to the Congress of Deputies. Bel is a member of the Association of Economists of Catalonia (

Col·legi d'Economistes de Catalunya The College of Economists of Catalonia, officially named in Catalan ''Col·legi d'Economistes de Catalunya,'' based in Barcelona, is a professional public law corporation, which in 2022 had more than 7,800 members and 1,500 related companies and of ...

), Registry of Economists and Tax Advisors (Registro de Economistas Asesores Fiscales, REAF), Registry of Forensic Economists (Registro de Economistas Forenses, REFOR) and Spanish Association of Accounting and Administration of Companies (Asociación Española de Contabilidad y Administración de Empresas, AECA).

Personal life

Bel is married with two children, a son and a daughter.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bel, Ferran 1965 births Catalan European Democratic Party politicians Academics from Catalonia Economists from Catalonia Convergence and Union politicians Democratic Convergence of Catalonia politicians Living people Mayors of places in Catalonia Members of the 10th Senate of Spain Members of the 11th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 12th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 14th Congress of Deputies (Spain) People from Tortosa Together for Catalonia (2017) politicians University of Barcelona alumni Academic staff of the University of Barcelona