A Social media expert is the new director for the governments’ Communication Strategy

Barcelona (ACN).- In this era of Internet and Information Society, governments put a lot of resources and effort into communicating their activities. The new Catalan government, lead by the centre-right nationalist from the political party, Convergència i Unió, Artur Mas, has appointed Jordi Cuminal as the director of communications . He was responsible for managing the 2.0 electoral campaign of the party. Cuminal is a member of parliament and has been a very active member of the youth section of CiU. Recently, he became communications secretary for Artur Mas’ party. He was also the first deputy mayor of his city, Sant Celoni, in central Catalonia. The government recently appointed new posts in Ministries to complete the design of the new government.

It was the President Artur Mas who appointed Jordi Cuminal as his director of Communications. The communication of the government's activities and initiatives was one of the main challenges for the former government, a three-way coalition of socialists, nationalists and greens. Born in 1977, Cuminal played a major role during the last electoral campaign of Convergència i Unió that lead the party towards a comfortable victory. In communications, Antoni Molons has been appointed as the new director of Audiovisual Media. Born in Barcelona in 1970, Molons worked in the Department of Broadcasting during the development and implementation of local DTT in Catalonia. He has also worked in the local consortium of Localret, Comunicàlia and XAL. Back then, he advised many councils on legal issues about DTT. Within the Presidency department, Mas has appointed Jordi Baiget as the new head of Interdepartmental Coordination. Baiget graduated in Economics from the University of Barcelona. From November 2003 till now, he has been the technical coordinator of the parliamentary groups of the CiU in the Catalan and Spanish Parliaments. He is also the author of several studies related to the Catalan economy and the labour market. The new Director of Analysis and Forecasting, Xavier Martorell, is a law graduate. Since February 2008, he has been the Director of Corporate Security for FC Barcelona and since 2007 the Councillor for Citizen Security and Institutional Relations for the City of Sant Cugat. Between 1996 and 2004, he was the director of the Autonomous Police and advised the governments of different states in Mexico. He assisted the mayor of Buenos Aires in the process of creating their police force. Security In the Home Affairs ministry, Xavier Crespo has been appointed as the new Security Secretary. Crespo was born in Barcelona in 1957 and is currently the mayor of Lloret de Mar, in the Costa Brava. He was very critical of the former government during last years’ snow chaos, when many towns in the area were left without electricity for days. Governance The Ministry of Governance and Institutional Relations has appointed Joan Auladell as the director of Institutional Relations. He graduated in Economics and Law from the University of Barcelona and has worked as a lawyer since 1986 in civil, commercial, administrative and fiscal matters. Previously, he was the president of the Justice Committee of Unió Democràtica, the coalition party of Convergència i Unió. Economics and Knowledge In the department of Economics and Knowledge, Antoni Castellà has been confirmed as the Secretary for Universities and Research. Castellà has a degree in Management and Business Administration and an MA in Business Administration from ESADE. He has been a member of parliament for the last three legislatures. He has also been Chairman of the econonomics, financial and budget committees of the Parliament. Elena Garcia-Valdecasas is the new director of Services in the ministry of Economics and Knowledge. She has a law degree and an MA in Public Management from the University of Barcelona. Since 1997, she has held various positions in the public administration, the last as Director of Human Resources and General Services for the Ministry of Justice from 2003 to 2004 and then as a Barcelona representative in the Direction of Taxation from 2005 to 2006. Education The Ministry of Education has appointed Professor Lluís Font Espinós as the secretary of educational policies. He has a Bachelor of Arts and Philosophy from the University of Barcelona and a PHD in Education science. Today, he is the general manager and vice president of the Foundation Blanquerna-URL as well as being a board member. He is also a professor at the Faculty of Communication in Blanquerna URL. Health Francesc Sancho Serena will be the next Secretary for Strategy and Coordination. Born in Sant Carles de la Ràpita in 1954, Sancho Serena is a Doctor from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and since 2003 has been the mayor of l'Ampolla, in south Catalonia. He was the representative of the Generalitat in the region of Terres de l'Ebre between 2001 and 2003, and has been an MP in the Catalan Parliament. In the Health Department, Josep Maria Padrosa Macías has been chosen as the new director of CatSalut. He also has a doctorate from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and, amongst other posts, was the managing director of Emergencies and Civil Protection. (2000-2002). The new director for Youth is Antoni Reig i Cassassas. He is a member of the cultural Catalan organisation Òmnium Cultural and was the president of the National Commission for Young People in Catalonia between 2006 and 2007. Business and Occupation Esther Sànchez i Torres has been designated the new Secretary of Occupation. She is a doctor in Law and has always been working in the academia field, especially lecturing at university about labour law and national insurance. Carles Flamerich i Castells has become the new general director of Telecommunications and Information Society. He is an engineer and an expert in Telecommunications having studied at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He is the president of the Technological Group of Catalonia (Ctecno). Josep Maria Recasens Soariano is the new director for Trade. He has been working in public administration for years, and has held posts in the area of Trade in the Government before. Olga Tomàs Huerva has been designated as the new director for Services. She is an industrial engineer and worked in the same position from 2000 to 2003. Justice In the ministry of Justice, Maria del Carme Virgili i Vilanova has been nominated as secretary of Relations with the Justice administration. She is graduate of Law and worked as a lawyer in the Government from1984 to 2004. Santiago Ballester i Muñoz is the new general director of Law and Juridical Institutions. He holds a degree in Law from the Universitat of Barcelona. The director of Services will be Adolf Martínez i Mas, a graduate of Politics and Sociology, and until now has been the manager of the Catalan Agency of Water.