Miquel Mayol i Raynal (born 11 August 1941 [1] ) is a Spanish politician of French nationality who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2001 to 2004 in Spanish lists.
Born in Perpignan, [2] he taught law [2] and was a founder of Catalan Workers' Left,. [3] He later joined the Republican Left of Catalonia and was the secretary of their North Catalonia division. [3]
In June 2001 he became a RLC member of the European Parliament in the Greens–European Free Alliance. He sat in the European Parliament until July 2004. [1]
He was also an activist in promoting both the Catalan language and its culture., [3] and was awarded the 2014 Joan Blanca Prize alongside Carme Forcadell i Lluís. [4]
The Catalan Countries refers to those territories where the Catalan language is spoken. They include the Spanish regions of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencia, and parts of Aragon and Murcia (Carche), as well as the Principality of Andorra, the department of Pyrénées-Orientales in France, and the city of Alghero in Sardinia (Italy). In the context of Catalan nationalism, the term is sometimes used in a more restricted way to refer to just Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The Catalan Countries do not correspond to any present or past political or administrative unit, though most of the area belonged to the Crown of Aragon in the Middle Ages. Parts of Valencia (Spanish) and Catalonia (Occitan) are not Catalan-speaking.
The Catalan independence movement is a social and political movement which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain.
Anna Simó i 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.
Polònia is a popular comedy TV show broadcast in Catalonia by the public broadcaster TV3.
Els Setze Jutges was a group of singers in the Catalan language founded in 1961 by Miquel Porter i Moix, Remei Margarit, and Josep Maria Espinàs. The name comes from a well known tongue-twister in the Catalan language: Setze jutges d'un jutjat mengen fetge d'un penjat.
The Assemblea Nacional Catalana is an organization that seeks the political independence of Catalonia from Spain. It also promotes the independence of other Catalan-speaking regions, which are collectively known as the Catalan Countries.
Núria de Gispert i Català is a Spanish politician and lawyer. Between 2010 and 2015 she served as speaker of Parliament of Catalonia.
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.
Junts pel Sí was a Catalan electoral, political and parliamentary alliance focused on achieving the independence of Catalonia from Spain. Established ahead of the 2015 Catalan regional election, it was formed by Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), Democrats of Catalonia (DC), Left Movement (MES) and Independence Rally (RI.cat), as well as a number of independent personalities from pro-independence sectors of civil society, including the pro-independence organizations Catalan National Assembly, Òmnium and the Association of Municipalities for Independence. The Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) had been invited to participate in the alliance, but refused to do so and ran on its own instead, citing its disagreement with the presence of politicians in the list.
Left Nationalists was a Catalan socialist and independentist political organization founded in 1979 from historical militants of the Socialist Party of National Liberation (PSAN), National Front of Catalonia, Catalan Communist Collective and independents linked to social movements. Its structure was based in local assemblies, and claimed the right to self-determination of Catalonia within a confederal Catalan Countries. NE also defined itself as national-popular and socialist. The party attracted activist from social movements, specially environmentalists, feminists, gays, youth, etc. The most representative were Jordi Carbonell, Josep Maria Espinàs, Magda Oranich, Avel·lí Artís i Gener and Armand de Fluvià. NE disbanded in 1984.
The Greens–Ecologist Confederation of Catalonia was an ecologist, Catalan nationalist political party in Spain, based in Catalonia. It was founded in March 1994 from the merger of The Greens, Nationalist Left Movement, Green Alternative–Ecologist Movement of Catalonia and Ecologist Alternative of Catalonia.
Dolors Bassa i Coll is an educator, psychopedagogist and Spanish politician 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.
Roger Torrent i Ramió is a Spanish politician and urban planner from Catalonia. A former mayor of the municipality of Sarrià de Ter in north-eastern Spain, Torrent was President of the Parliament of Catalonia from January 2018 until March 2021. Since 26 May 2021 he is the Minister of Business and Work of Catalonia.
Jordi Turull i Negre is a Spanish politician 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 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.
Joan Josep Nuet i Pujals is a Spanish politician from Catalonia who currently serves as Member of the Congress of Deputies of Spain. He was previously a member of the Senate of Spain and the Parliament of Catalonia.
Joan Maria Pujals i Vallvé is a Catalan politician, counselor of the Generalitat of Catalonia and a Member of the Parliament of Catalonia in the fourth, fifth and sixth legislatures.
Carles Castellanos i Llorenç. He is a writer, translator, and political activist of the Catalan independence movement. He holds a Ph.D. in Translation from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, has been director of the Department of Translation and Interpreting of this University, and is currently a professor of doctoral studies in this Department. He is a member of the Catalan National Assembly and was vice-president from 2012 to 2013, as well as a member of Poble Lliure and the Popular Unity Candidacy of Barcelona.