Torra's first 12 months as Catalan president

It has been a year since Quim Torra was elected the 131st President of Catalonia, with the head of the government on Tuesday reiterating his support for independence: "I'm more convinced than ever that the only possible way forward is the Republic," he said in a tweet.

It was the combined votes of the ERC and JxCat pro-independence parties that ensured Torra was elected president, after the Spanish courts had blocked three other candidates because they had been charged with rebellion over the 2017 bid to split from Spain.

After Torra was sworn in as president on May 17, he set about appointing an executive that would bring seven months of direct rule in Catalonia to an end. Yet, his decision to include former ministers in custody or exile was blocked by the Spanish government.