Catalonia to open four new delegations worldwide, with representatives in Ireland and Quebec

The Catalan government will open four new delegations worldwide, with representatives in Ireland and in the Canadian region of Quebec, as announced by foreign affairs minister Meritxell Serret during a visit to Rome.

One of the new objectives of the department for the next three years is to have soon a new envoy in the European country and, "in due course, after the time needed to study the options, open a government delegation to Ireland," a statement shared to Catalan News reads.

The ministry will also create three new bureaus in central Asia, southeastern Asia, and the third one in eastern Africa.

Currently, Catalonia has 21 delegations covering 72 different countries, with America covered in its totality, as the government recently announced the opening of a new delegation to Colombia.

Some other delegations are still not set in motion but are already planned, including one in Senegal, one in Japan, South Korea, Andorra, and Brazil.

The goal for the future is to strengthen those already in place in some "key markets," such as the ones in the European Union and the United States.

"The Catalan government aims to consolidate and strengthen its institutional presence worldwide, making it stronger and bigger," Serret said.

Recently, the government moved its delegation to Southern Africa from the South African capital, Pretoria, to Johannesburg, for "strategic, institutional, demographic and economic reasons."  

Catalonia has a delegate assigned to the region, but there is not yet an office. The executive has decided in the end that it will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city. 

No date has been given for the opening of the office, which will also cover Angola and Mozambique.

Foreign action plan 

Catalan delegation offices, which are part of Catalonia's foreign action plan, have been a source of controversy as some believe only Spain should have the authority to implement such programs. Yet, the Catalan government insists they have a right to have them – other autonomous communities in Spain do – and keep on expanding their network. 

Most of the offices were forced to close when the Spanish government imposed direct rule in Catalonia by invoking Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution following the failed 2017 independence bid. 

The Catalan government began to reopen some of these offices in 2018 when direct rule was lifted, but not without objection from the Spanish authorities who argue Catalonia is overstepping its role as a political entity within Spain.