Socialists’ Salvador Illa elected 133rd Catalan president

Socialist leader Salvador Illa has been elected as the 133rd Catalan president during an eventful Thursday. 

Illa has been elected president with 68 votes in favor – 42 from his own party, 20 after gaining the support of pro-independence Esquerra Republicana, and six more from left-wing Comuns Sumar for the narrowest of majorities. 

The investiture debate got underway amid huge uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts of former president Carles Puigdemont, who returned to Barcelona in the morning, gave a speech, and quickly fled the scene again instead of trying to enter the parliament or being arrested, as was expected. 

The former Catalan president appeared in Barcelona for the first time in seven years just one hour before the debate started, and it was expected the Junts leader would try to enter the parliament and be arrested. Instead, his location has been unknown all day, while two Catalan police officers have been arrested for allegedly collaborating with his escape.

During his investiture speech in parliament, Salvador Illa called for the amnesty law to be applied "quickly and without deceit" in order to "fully achieve normalization in Catalonia." 

The candidate acknowledged that he leads a minority group in the chamber, as the Socialists have only 42 MPs with 68 needed for a majority. 

The investiture debate was carried out with complete normality until lunch time, when pro-independence party Junts requested the debate be suspended. The Parliament bureau had a long meeting to discuss what steps to take.

Junts asked for the session to be suspended after learning that their general secretary, Jordi Turull, was summoned by police to testify over Puigdemont's whereabouts. In the end, the request to suspend the session was rejected and the debate continued.  

Illa's investiture marks a significant turning point for Catalan politics. The Socialist is the first president in favor of Spanish unity since 2010, while the chamber no longer has a pro-independence majority as it has for many years.

During his time in government, Illa intends to "move forward and leave the past behind" from these years of pro-independence governments. 

The Socialists have been pushing for big infrastructure changes in Catalonia, such as the expansion of the Barcelona airport and the B-40 highway in the Barcelona metropolitan area, as well as the construction of the Hard Rock hotel-casino complex in southern Catalonia.    

Who is Salvador Illa? 

The Socialist started to lead the Catalan branch of the party in 2021, when he announced he would be the party's candidate for the February 14 election, in which he won most votes, but without options to form a majority.  

Before that point, Salvador Illa had been the Spanish health minister from 2020 to 2021 under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in his first cabinet, and during the Covid-19 pandemic.  

During the last term, Illa led the opposition but supported Esquerra's minority government on several occasions.

Salvador Illa was born in La Roca del Vallès, outside of Barcelona, on May 5, 1966. 

He has a degree in philosophy from Universitat de Barcelona. 

His political career began as a councilor in La Roca del Vallès in 1987. He became mayor of the town in 1999 and stepped down in 2005.  

He also worked at the Department of Justice of the Catalan government and on the Economic Office of Barcelona's city council.  

For a period, he also worked outside of politics at an audiovisual production company.