The Catalan independence movement is a social and political movement which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain.
Anna Simói Castelló is a Spanish Catalan politician. A member of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC),she became the Minister of Social Welfare and Family Affairs of the Generalitat de Catalunya in 2003 as part of the first "Tripartite" coalition government formed by the Socialists' Party of Catalonia,ERC and Initiative for Catalonia Greens,a position she held until ERC's ministers were removed from the government in May 2006.
Raül Romeva i Rueda is a Catalan politician from Spain and a former Member of the European Parliament with the Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds,part of the European Greens. He sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality. In the Catalan parliamentary election of 2015 he led the pro-Catalan independence electoral list Junts pel Sí.
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.
Jordi Sànchez i Picanyol is a Spanish political activist from Catalonia,who was president of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) between May 2015 and November 2017.
The 2017 Catalan regional election was held on Thursday 21 December 2017 to elect the 12th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was called by Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy after the invocation of Article 155 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution to enforce direct rule in Catalonia and the subsequent dismissal of the Catalan government under President Carles Puigdemont. The three pro-Catalan independence parties won a slim majority of parliamentary seats,claiming 70 out of 135,but fell short of a majority in the popular vote by securing 47.6% of the share.
Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. He has been the President of Together for Catalonia (Junts) since 2024,having previously held the office from 2020 to 2022. He served as the 130th President of the Government of Catalonia from 2016 to 2017. His government held an independence referendum,which culminated in the unsuccessful Declaration of independence of Catalonia and his removal from office. He then served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2019 to 2024.
A constitutional crisis took place in Spain from 2017 to 2018 as the result of a political conflict between the Government of Spain and the Generalitat de Catalunya under the then-President Carles Puigdemont —the government of the autonomous community of Catalonia until 28 October 2017—over the issue of Catalan independence. It started after the law intending to allow the 2017 Catalan independence referendum was denounced by the Spanish government under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and subsequently suspended by the Constitutional Court until it ruled on the issue. Some international media outlets have described the events as "one of the worst political crises in modern Spanish history".
Josep Lluís Trapero Álvarez is the current Mossos d'Esquadra Major,the highest rank in the Catalan Police. On 28 October 2017,the Spanish government declared him removed from his post,after its invocation of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution,suspending Catalonia's autonomy. In 2020,he was restored to his position of Major after being acquitted of wrongdoing by the Audiencia Nacional. Trapero started his career as a Mosso in 1990 and after years of service he was granted the position of Commissioner in 2013. In 2017,after 26 years of service,he achieved the rank of Major,succeeding Joan Unió.
Dolors Bassa i Coll 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. Since March 2018 she was remanded in custody,without bail,by order of the Supreme Court of Spain,accused of sedition and rebellion. 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.
The Puigdemont Government was the regional government of Catalonia led by President Carles Puigdemont between 2016 and 2017. It was formed in January 2016 after the resignation of Puigdemont's predecessor Artur Mas and it ended in October 2017 with the imposition of direct rule following the Catalan declaration of independence.
Ramona Barrufet i Santacana is a Spanish Catalan teacher and politician who has been a deputy in the Parliament of Catalonia for the IX,X and XI legislatures and has been the Fourth Secretary on the Parliament's Board since 2015 until 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia party (CDC).
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.
The Torra Government was the regional government of Catalonia led by President Quim Torra between 2018 and 2020. It was formed in May 2018 after the regional election. Pere Aragonès took office as the interim president when the High Court of Justice of Catalonia barred Torra from public office on 28 September 2020.
Carles Mundói Blanch is a Spanish lawyer and politician from Catalonia who served as the Minister of Justice of Catalonia until the dismissal of the Parliament of Catalonia and of the Catalan Government in 2017 due to its declaration of independence. He was reelected to the Catalan Parliament on 21 December 2017 as a member of the Catalonia Yes party until he resigned.
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.
