Who is Anna Erra, the new Catalan parliament speaker?

Anna Erra is the person chosen by Junts per Catalunya to replace Laura Borràs as the speaker of the Catalan parliament. 

Erra is believed to be the choice of Junts general secretary Jordi Turull, rather than the figure preferred by Borràs herself, president of the party. 

The vice president of Junts has been mayor of Vic since 2015 but chose not to stand for re-election in the May vote, paving the way for her colleague Albert Castells.

During her time as mayor of Vic, Catalonia saw the peak of its independence push, a campaign that Erra got involved in.

The pro-independence politician allowed the Plaça Major main square in the city to be converted into a symbolic graveyard featuring 2,500 yellow crosses in July 2018, representing solidarity with jailed and exiled pro-independence politicians.

Over the weekend that the crosses were installed, a speeding car drove through the crosses in protest, damaging them. The driver was subsequently arrested and Erra stated that they had "psychological problems."  

The Vic council also made headlines on another occasion when megaphones were installed in the same square, broadcasting messages in favor of independence and in solidarity with the leaders of the jailed and exiled referendum leaders. The initiative was in conjunction with civic groups ANC and Òmnium Cultural and would eventually lead to Erra being investigated for misuse of funds, but the courts decided not to pursue a trial. 

Vic is a town in central Catalonia with a strong pro-independence tradition in its local council. In the 2023 municipal elections, 18 out of 21 councilors elected came from parties in favor of setting up a Catalan Republic, and four years earlier, 20 of the seats were for pro-independence parties, while 19 were in favor of independence in 2015, the year that Erra was first elected as mayor. 

Erra worked as a teacher for 21 years in a school in Vic, as she is a licensed teacher and has a degree in History and Geography. From 2007 until 2015 she was the councilor for Education, Culture, Commerce and Tourism in Vic. 

In 2015 she became the first woman to be elected mayor of Vic, and in June 2018 she became a Member of the Parliament of Catalonia.