In this Catalan name, the first or paternal surname is Bassaand the second or maternal family name is Coll; both are generally joined by the conjunction "i".
Dolors Bassa i Coll (born 1959) is an educator,educational psychologist and Spanish politician from Catalonia who held the position of Minister of Labour,Social Affairs and Families in the Generalitat de Catalunya until Spain dismissed the Catalan government on 27 October 2017. She is known for her syndicalist career in the major Spanish trade union,Unión General de Trabajadores.[1][2] Since March 2018 she was remanded in custody,without bail,by order of the Supreme Court of Spain,accused of sedition and rebellion.[3] She was sentenced on October 14,2019,to 12 years in prison for sedition,as being responsible for devoting several thousand public schools as polling stations in the 1 October 2017 referendum. She was freed in June 2021 following a government pardon.[4][5]
As a politician,she started her career as a Local Councillor in Torroella de Montgrí for the Republican Left of Catalonia from 2007 to 2015. Bassa was also a member of the Generalitat's Vocational Training Council between 2007 and 2013,and also served on the steering committee of the Labour Services of the Generalitat (SOC) between 2006 and 2014.[7]
In 2000 she started her activities with the syndicate Unión General de Trabajadores,UGT. In 2008 she was elected as General Secretary of the UGT of Girona and held the position until 2015.[8]
On 13 January 2016 she was offered the post of Minister of Labour,Social Affairs and Families in the government of Carles Puigdemont. Dolors Bassa accepted the position the following day.[2] She was dismissed on 27 October 2017,[9] along with the rest of the Catalan regional government,according to Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution,after being charged of several major constitutional infringements like declaring the independence of Catalonia.
On November 2,Bassa was sent to prison in Madrid,where she shared a cell with her parliamentary colleague Meritxell Borràs. While behind bars,she "started helping some of the convicts to work towards getting a diploma or school certificate". She also obeyed orders to clean the halls while Borràs cleaned windows. She said that some prison workers were surprised at their willingness to work:"They thought that we would act ‘high and mighty’and they saw that it wasn't the case."[10][11] On November 11,her sister,Montserrat,appeared before a crowd in Torroella de Montgríand issued a dramatic plea for Bassa's release.[12]
In early December,the Spanish Supreme Court ordered Bassa's release and that of four other Catalan parliamentarians,Jordi Turull,Josep Rull,Carles Mundó and Raül Romeva,upon payment of 100,000 euros in bail apiece. Bassa had spent 33 days in prison,but still faced the possibility of a long prison term.[13][10]
Thirteen days after her release from prison,Bassa said she did not feel free. "I feel a threat hanging above me,because they can still ask for up to 30 years in prison," she told the Catalan News Agency (ACN). She said she felt "afraid," but was "proud" of her political career with ERC. While she planned to return to the Catalan Parliament,she said she would not accept a cabinet position. "After what I went through," she said,"I don’t feel like it,my body is asking me not to."[11]
She was re-elected member of the Catalan Parliament in the 2017 Catalan regional election,but on March 24,2018,once the insufficient vote for the investiture of Jordi Turull as president of the Generalitat of Catalonia,she resigned as deputy,along with Marta Rovira and Carme Forcadell.[14] On March 23,2018,the Spanish Supreme Court judge,Tribunal Supremo,Pablo Llarena sent her back to prison,together with the former Speaker of the Parliament Carme Forcadell and the deposed ministers Raül Romeva,Josep Rull and Jordi Turull. Llarena argued for unconditional provisional bail after considering that there was a risk of flight and reiteration of the crimes for which they were being prosecuted.[15][16][17][18]
On July 4,2018,she was transferred to the Puig de les Basses Penitentiary Centre in Figueres. Since then,collective dinners and various support concentrations have been promoted in front of the prison to support her.
On February 1,2019,she was transferred again to Alcalá-Meco,to attend the trial that was to start on February 12. She was charged with rebellion and misuse of public funds.[19] The trial ended and the court adjourned to deliberate on 12 June 2019,and she was transferred back to the Figueres prison.[20]
On 14 October 2019,she was sentenced to 12 years in prison and given a 12-year ban on holding public office. The verdict was delivered by seven judges by Spain's Supreme court,after a four-month trial that heard from 422 witnesses.[21][22][23]
In February 2020,Bassa was given permission to leave the prison for eight hours a day,three days a week,in order to take care of her elderly mother,as allowed by Article 100.2 of the Prison Regulation.[24]
In June 2021,she was freed by a government pardon along with eight other jailed former politicians. She is,however,still banned on holding public office.[25]
Torroella de Montgrí is a coastal municipality on the Costa Brava,and small town in Catalonia,Spain. The town lies on the north bank of the Ter river,a few kilometres before it flows into the Mediterranean. The beach resort of L'Estartit also is part of the municipality,as are the Medes Islands and a large part of the MontgríMassif.
Fontanilles is a village in the province of Girona and autonomous community of Catalonia,Spain. The municipality covers an area of 9.29 square kilometres (3.59 sq mi) and the population in 2014 was 160.
Gualta is a village in the province of Girona and autonomous community of Catalonia,Spain. The municipality covers an area of 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi) and the population in 2014 was 362.
Montgrí,Medes Islands and Baix Ter Natural Park is a natural park located in the province of Girona,Catalonia,Spain. The park was established in 2010 and encompasses the Medes Islands,the MontgríMassif and the mouth of the Ter river,covering a land area of 6,155.20 hectares and a marine protected area of 2,036.99 hectares. It stretches over the municipalities of L'Escala,Torroella de Montgrí,Pals,Bellcaire d'Empordà,Palau-sator,Ullà,Fontanilles and Gualta.
Oriol Junqueras i Vies is a Catalan politician and historian. A former mayor of the municipality of Sant Vicençdels Horts in Catalonia,Junqueras served as Vice President of Catalonia from January 2016 to October 2017,when he was removed from office following the Catalan declaration of independence and entered prison until June 2021 for his role in organizing the 2017 Catalan independence referendum. He is president of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC). Born in 1969 in Barcelona,Junqueras grew up in the municipality of Sant Vicençdels Horts. After graduating from the Autonomous University of Barcelona,he taught history at the university.
Maria Carme Forcadell i Lluís is a Spanish politician from Catalonia. She is the former President of the Parliament of Catalonia,as well as a Catalan high school teacher,known for her Catalan independence activism.
Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2019 to 2024. A former mayor of Girona,Puigdemont served as President of Catalonia from 2016 to 2017 when he was removed from office by the Spanish Government following the unilateral Catalan declaration of independence. He is co-founder of the National Call for the Republic (CNxR),leader of the Together for Catalonia (JuntsxCat) electoral alliance and founder of the Together for Catalonia party.
Marta Rovira i Vergés is a Spanish lawyer and politician. She is the General Secretary of Republican Left of Catalonia since 2011.
The Museum of the Mediterranean is a museum located in Torroella de Montgrí,founded in 2003,in an attempt to become an area for knowledge,reflection and research for the problems and worries that affect citizens in the 21st century. It is housed in Can Quintana,a 16th-century building. It is dedicated to the knowledge and communication of the Mediterranean Sea and uses the natural sounds,human sounds and music to show the reality of the land,the history and the culture of the village of Torroella,connected with the others Mediterranean cultures and towns. It pretends to become a site to think about the nearest territory and the main issues that affect the different Mediterranean nations.
Joaquim Forn i Chiariello is a Spanish politician and lawyer from Catalonia. A former deputy mayor of the city of Barcelona in north-eastern Spain,Forn served as Minister of the Interior from July 2017 to October 2017 when he was removed from office following the Catalan declaration of independence.
Meritxell Borràs i Solé is a Spanish politician and pharmacist from Catalonia. Borràs served as Catalonia's Minister of Governance and Institutional Relations from June 2015 to October 2017 when she was removed from office following the Catalan declaration of independence.
Jordi Turull i Negre is a Spanish politician from Catalonia associated with Together for Catalonia. Since March 2018 he has been in pre-trial custody by order of the Supreme Court of Spain and accused of sedition and rebellion. On 10 July 2018 a Supreme Court judge suspended him as a deputy in the Catalan parliament.
Laura Borràs i Castanyer is a Spanish philologist,academic and politician from Catalonia who was the President of the Parliament of Catalonia between 2021 and 2022,when she was suspended as member of the Parliament of Catalonia under allegations of corruption.
Maria Àngels Chacón i Feixas is a Spanish politician from Catalonia who served as Minister of Enterprise and Knowledge of the Catalan government.
Chakir El Homrani Lesfar is a Spanish-Moroccan trade unionist,politician Minister of Labour,Social Affairs and Family of Catalonia between 2018 and 2021.
Josep Rull i Andreu is a Spanish politician from Catalonia serving as President of the Parliament of Catalonia since June 2024. He previously served as the Counselor of Territory and Sustainability of Catalonia at the Government of Carles Puigdemont between 2016 and 2017,when Spanish Rajoy's Government ceased the Catalan executive following the Catalan declaration of independence amid the application of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. Between 2 November and 4 December 2017,Rull was jailed and again on 23 March 2018. He was a member of the Catalan Parliament but on 10 July 2018 a Supreme Court judge suspended him as a deputy.
The 12th Parliament of Catalonia was the meeting of the Parliament of Catalonia,with the membership determined by the results of the 2017 regional election held on 21 December 2017 after its dissolution on 27 October in application of direct rule. The parliament met for the first time on 17 January 2018.
The trial of Catalonia independence leaders,legally named Causa Especial 20907/2017 and popularly known as the Causa del procés,was an oral trial that began on 12 February 2019 in the Supreme Court of Spain. The case was tried by seven judges and was chaired by judge Manuel Marchena. Judge Pablo Llarena had previously coordinated an instruction between October 2017 and July 2018,as a result of which 12 people were tried,including the previous vice president Oriol Junqueras of the regional government and most of the cabinet as well as political activists Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart and the former Speaker of the Parliament of Catalonia Carme Forcadell. Some defendants remained in pre-trial detention without bail from the beginning of the instruction process and have thus already served part of their sentence.
Lluís Maria Corominas i Díaz is a Catalan lawyer,politician and a former member of the Parliament of Catalonia. He is currently awaiting trial on charges of disobedience for his role in the Catalan declaration of independence.
Montserrat Bassa i Coll is a Spanish politician from Catalonia who serves as Member of the Congress of Deputies of Spain.
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