government

The new Catalan Minister for Territory and Sustainability was the former Mayor of Sant Cugat del Vallès, a middle-to-upper class residential city next to Barcelona. Recoder represents the most social-democratic and least identity-centred sensibility in the Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), the Liberal wing of the two-party Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU). Recoder’s Ministry changes its name and increases its mandate.

The Vice President and the Ministers of the new Catalan Government were sworn into office at noon. The first Government meeting took place just afterwards to appoint most of the Deputy Ministers. In the afternoon, the former Vice President and Ministers switched portfolios with the new appointees. The Left-Wing Government coalition is, from today, officially over. The new President, Artur Mas, promises an efficient and austere Government, with experienced members.

Mas-Colell was a professor at Berkeley and Harvard universities. Most recently, he chaired the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and was a professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He is a specialist in microeconomics and some of his publications are world-renowned references on the subject. Mas-Colell had already been Minister of the Catalan Government between 1999 and 2003, in charge of universities. Now he will be Minister for the Economy, Budget and Universities, stressing the importance of innovation and research.

Puig is the new Home Affairs Minister, famous for his rough style. He is a survivor of the Pujol Governments, in which he held several posts, such as Spokesperson and Minister for Public Works. This civil engineer with a Bachelors degree in business administration is the number 2 in Artur Mas’ party, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya, the Liberal and Centrist wing of CiU.

The new Minister for Justice is an independent. Pilar Fernández Bozal is the senior-most representative in Catalonia of the Spanish State’s Lawyer Corps. This position makes her a specialist in competence devolution and Constitutional issues.

Ortega will be in charge of public administration staff and structures, as well as the relations between the Catalan Government and the Spanish State’s powers. She will be the first woman to hold the office of Vice President. She defends traditional family values and promotes women’s talent.

Mas will appoint the Christian Democrat Joana Ortega as the Catalan Vice President. She will be in charge of the public administration as well as institutional relations, such as Catalon Government's relations with the Spanish State. She will share the latter responsibilities with her party leader, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, the current Spokesperson of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) in the Spanish Parliament.

Catalonia has a new President. Artur Mas, the leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), becomes the 129th President of the Catalan Government. The swearing-in ceremony takes place this morning at the Generalitat Palace, the seat of the Government. Mas is sworn into office in an institutional ceremony, followed by a reception. The new Catalan Ministers were announced this afternoon and will take office on Wednesday, when the new Government will meet for the first time.

Artur Mas has finally decided upon the composition of his government. Mas waited to swear office and officially become President of the Catalan Government to make public his ministers’ names. Harvard and Berkeley professor Andreu Mas-Colell will be the Economy and Universities Minister. ESADE professor and international consultant, Francesc Xavier Mena will be in charge of Business and Employment. Socialist Ferran Mascarell accepted Mas’ offer to become the next Culture Minister. The Christian-Democrats hold the Vice Presidency and responsibilities on Public Administration, Relations with Spain, Agriculture and the Environment.

Finally, after having tried in 2003 and 2006, Artur Mas is invested President of the Catalan Government. The economist has been working in the public sector since 1982. He was a type of Catalan Prime Minister between 2001 and 2003, in the last government of the CiU’s historic leader Jordi Pujol. In fact, Pujol elected Mas as his successor, an image that Mas finally abandoned. During these 7 years leading the opposition, Mas built his own profile and is perceived as a serious, efficient and moderate politician.

The leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), is invested President of the Catalan Government by the Catalan Parliament. He will take office next Monday, the 27th of December. The members of his government have not been announced yet. Mas was invested by votes from CiU MPs and the abstention from the Catalan Socialist Party’s MPs.

Mas affirmed the beginning of a “national transition” towards the right of Catalans to decide on their own future. A new economic agreement with Spain is a priority in this direction. In addition, the new Catalan President will implement an economic reactivation plan, agreed together with the Parliament and the social agents. The new government will also have 2 expert advisory councils on Economics and Health, organised free of cost by professional associations. Mas also promised that, once the budget improves after the crisis, social policies will represent 55% of the public expenditure.

The second most important person within the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), will not form part of the new Catalan Government. Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida will remain in Madrid as the CiU’s spokesperson in the Spanish Parliament. He will be the Catalan Government’s main negotiator with the Spanish Prime Minister, Zapatero. The new Catalan Parliament resulting from the 28th of November elections will be formed next Thursday and the 129th Catalan President will very likely be elected before Christmas.

Zapatero's government justifies the decision to declare the state of alert and guarantees that the Christmas holidays will not suffer any disruptions. However, passengers face new threats as ground staff considers taking industrial action against the plans to privatise the air traffic authority

The Catalan Government has approved a decree regulating tourist apartments. A flat rented for a period of less than 3 months is considered a “tourist” flat. As it performs an economic activity, it will now need a municipal license. Until now, tourist flats were regulated depending on the municipality.