After six months of standstill, Catalonia's regional government has chosen a new president. Quim Torra takes over from Carles Puigdemont, with his predecessor’s blessing and rapprochement with Madrid a long way off.
Image: Getty Images/L. Gene
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The figurehead of the Catalan independence movement, Carles Puigdemont, made no secret about how he views the role of his successor. In a video message from Germany, he named Quim Torra as Catalonia's new regional president, but spoke of a "provisional period."
And Torra himself was also clear about the division of labor while presenting his government program: "Our president is Carles Puigdemont," said the 55-year-old lawyer in Barcelona's parliament on Monday.
On paper at least, though, it's the former businessman Quim Torra steering the fates of some 7.5 million Catalans. Six months after the removal of separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia once again has a government. In theory, that should lift Article 155 of the Spanish constitution. That's the legal basis on which the national government in Madrid suspended the region's political autonomy after it declared independence.
But Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is unlikely to have any easier a time dealing with Puigdemont's successor. If his statements so far are anything to go by, Quim Torra is not looking for a settlement with Madrid. Rather, he said that he will "work tirelessly to build an independent state in the form of a republic."
Rajoy was clearly not amused, commenting that he didn't like what he'd seen or heard, but that he would judge Torra "on his actions." But he added that should the new leader violate the constitution, he would also be removed from power.
For almost two decades, Torra served as a manager for the insurance company, Winterthur. For two of those years, he was based in Switzerland. After that, he dedicated himself to supporting Catalan culture, much in the same way as Puigdemont. His political discourse also bears similarities to that of his predecessor.
"No European citizen has to endure what we Catalans are enduring at the moment," he told parliament several weeks ago. Shortly after he was named president, the Spanish press published several old tweets that Torra had already deleted from his Twitter account.
"We've been living since 1714 under Spanish occupation," he wrote. In another tweet, he accused Spaniards of being looters. Catalan culture and history are close to Torra's heart. Before entering politics, he was the head of the Born Cultural Center in Barcelona. There, ruins remind visitors of the occupation of the city during the War of Spanish Succession at the start of the 18thcentury.
At the time, the Catalans were allied with the Habsburgs. Barcelona was occupied by French and Spanish troops and capitulated on September 11, 1714. That was also the end of Catalan self-rule. Given this history, Torra once described the center as the "Ground Zero of Catalans" – referencing the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US in 2001.
Torra went on to start a publishing house for Catalan literature. He himself is the author of many political essays and several books. For a short time, he was also the leader of the separatist organization known as Omnium Cultural.
Catalonia's independence movement — a brief history
The desire of many Catalans to gain independence from Spain has a long history. The region has experienced varying levels of autonomy and repression over the centuries.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Rich ancient heritage
Catalonia has been settled by the Phoenicians, the Etruscans and the Greeks, who were mainly in the coastal areas of Rosas and Empuries (above). Then came the Romans, who built more settlements and infrastructure. Catalonia remained a part of the Roman Empire until it was conquered by the Visigoths in the fifth century.
Image: Caos30
Counties and independence
Catalonia was conquered by Arabs in 711 AD. The Frankish king Charlemagne stopped their advance at Tours on the Loire River and, by 759, the north of Catalonia was once again Christian. In 1137, the counties that made up Catalonia entered an alliance with the Crown of Aragon.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archiv
Autonomy and the war of succession
In the 13th century, the institutions of Catalan self-administration were created under the banner of the Generalitat de Catalunya. After the unification of the Crown of Aragon with that of Castile in 1476, Aragon was largely able to keep its autonomic institutions. However, the Catalan revolt — from 1640 to 1659 — saw parts of Catalonia ceded to present-day France.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Remembrance of defeat
After the conquest of Barcelona on September 11, 1714, by the Bourbon King Phillip V, Catalan instuitutions were dissolved and self-administration came to an end. Every year, on September 11, Catalans commemorate the end of their right to autonomy.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Gene
Federal ideas in wider republic
After the abdication of King Amadeo I of Spain, the first Spanish Republic was declared in February 1873. It lasted barely a year. The supporters of the Republic were split – one group supporting the idea of a centralized republic, the others wanting a federal system. Pictured here is Francisco Pi i Maragall, a supporter of federalism and one of five presidents of the short-lived republic.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Failed attempt
Catalonia sought to establish a new state within the Spanish republic, but this only served to exacerbate the differences between republicans, ultimately dividing and weakening them. In 1874, the monarchy and the House of Bourbon (led by King Alfonso XII, pictured here) took the helm.
Image: picture-alliance/Quagga Illustrations
Catalan Republic
Between 1923 — with the support of the monarchy, the army and the church — General Primo de Rivera declared a dictatorship. Catalonia became a center of opposition and resistance. After the end of the dictatorship, the politician Francesc Macia (pictured here) successfully pressed for important rights of autonomy for Catalonia.
The end of freedom
In the Second Spanish Republic, Catalan lawmakers worked on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia. This was approved by the Spanish parliament in 1932. Francesc Macia was elected president of the Generalitat of Catalonia by the Catalan parliament. However, the victory of Franco at the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939) put an end to all that.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Loss of liberties
The Franco regime ruled with an iron rod. Political parties were banned and the Catalan language and culture were surpressed.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
New autonomy by statute
After the first parliamentary elections that followed the end of the Franco dictatorship, the Generalitat of Catalonia was provisionally restored. Under the democratic Spanish constitution of 1978, Catalonia was given a new Statute of Autonomy just a year later.
The new Statute of Autonomy recognized the autonomy of Catalonia and the importance of the Catalan language. In comparison to the 1932 statute, it was enhanced in the fields of culture and education but curtailed when it came to the realm of justice. Pictured here is Jordi Pujol, the long-time head of the government of Catalonia after the dictatorship.
Image: Jose Gayarre
Stronger self-awareness
A desire for independence has grown stronger in recent years. In 2006, Catalonia was given a new statute that broadened the Catalan government's powers. However, it lost these after a complaint by the conservative Popular Party to the Constitutional Court of Spain.
Image: Reuters/A.Gea
First referendum
A referendum on independence was already envisaged for November 9, 2014. The first question was "Do you want Catalonia to become a state?" In the case of an affirmative answer, the second question was posed: "Do you want this state to be independent?" However, the Constitutional Court suspended the vote.
Image: Reuters/G. Nacarino
Clash of the titans
Since January 2016, Carles Puigdemont has been president of the Catalan government. He proceeded with the separatist course of his predecessor Artur Mas and called the new referendum for October 1, 2017. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed this as unconstitutional.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Lago
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Torra is "Plan D"
Like Puigdemont, Torra hails from the Catalan separatist stronghold of Girona. Puigdemont comes from the small mountain village of Amer; Torra from the small coastal city of Blanes. Torra's political career began with the new elections held in December 2017. He ran as an independent on Puigdemont's electoral list and gained a seat in the regional parliament.
Such is the case with "Plan A" – Carles Puigdemont. Torra is among the party members to have regularly visited him in exile, initially in Brussels, then in prison in the German town of Neumünster, and most recently in his hotel in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin.
That's where Puigdemont offered Torra his support. But once again underlining his understanding of his presidency as a temporary solution, he included the following proviso in his video message: Torra should not use Puigdemont's former office in Barcelona's presidential palace.
