felip puig

The President of the Catalan Government has formed a new Cabinet with more political weight controlled by some of the people closest to him, such as Francesc Homs and Germà Gordó, who have been promoted. Half of the previous ministers will continue in the same position, such as the Vice-President Joana Ortega and the Finance Minister Andreu Mas-Colell. The new Executive combines a few Social-Democrat figures – as a gesture towards the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) – with members of the Christian-Democrat side of the governing Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), in order to respect the internal equilibrium. The new Government has the objectives of organising the self-determination vote, reducing the public deficit and reactivating the economy.

It is expected that the heat wave will last from Thursday to Saturday and that temperatures will climb to at least 34ºC throughout Catalonia. The Catalan Government has closed eight forest areas of high risk and has limited agricultural activity. Civil Protection is on ‘pre-alert’ in 27 counties and firefighters have began pre-emptive surveillance of areas that will be at risk. In other developments, the Catalan Police have found DNA on the cigarette butt which started the fires in Portbou.

Catalan interior minister Felip Puig said that weather conditions have improved for dealing with the fires in the Alt Empordà region, saying this morning that he was “reasonably optimistic” that the it would be under control this Tuesday. The fires are currently in a reasonably stable state. The blaze was started on Sunday by a discarded cigarette butt, affecting an area of 13.000 hectares. Weather conditions were favourable for tackling the blaze and remained so for much of Tuesday.

The Spanish boss of public prosecutors, Eduardo Torres-Dulce, says it is crucial to analyse if current procedural tools are enough to guarantee fundamental rights and public order. Therefore, he asked not to make legal changes in the heat of the moment.

The Spanish Government has taken this measure for the European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council that will be held in Barcelona from May 2nd to 4th. The cancellation of the Schengen Protocol comes after a request by the Catalan Minister for Home Affairs to prevent the arrival of violent protesters and guarantee security during the meeting. This precautionary measure will come into effect from April 28th to May 4th, both included. It will be combined with 6,500 police deployed on the streets of the capital of Catalonia. All these measures will be taken after an evaluation of the risks of trouble during the event.

Rasquera, with less than one-thousand residents and located in southern Catalonia, approved on April 10th planting cannabis as part of their local economic reactivation plan through a citizen vote. The day after, Rasquera’s Mayor announced he will resign as his proposal did not reach 75% of the popular support. However, he said the plan will carry on. The Catalan Minister for Home Affairs affirmed that the police will report to the public attorney on any cannabis plantation, since they continue being illegal despite Rasquera’s vote. The Spanish Justice Minister thought that the initiative could have “more negative consequences in the long run” than “positive in the short term”.

The Catalan Parliament will also file a formal complaint regarding the violent protests that took place last Wednesday in Barcelona. Protesters tried to besiege the Parliament and impede the entrance of MPs, some of whom were insulted, threatened, pushed and sprayed. The Spanish Penal Code states that these type of actions are a felony and offenders could face between three and five years in person. Catalan Police had to protect the Parliament and the MPs, with a deployment of 600 police officers. All political parties condemned the violent acts by protesters and most of the opposition said that the deployment of security forces was too small.

Catalan and Barcelona Police tried to remove protesters from Barcelona’s Catalunya Square to facilitate the work of cleaners to dismantle the camp. The official reason was to prevent violent action on Saturday night if FC Barcelona wins the Champions League. After the resistance offered by some protesters, riot police charged violently causing more than 120 injured and the indignation of protesters, many civil society organisations and opposition parties. The Catalan Minister for Home Affairs accepted responsibility and stated that police were following orders. Protesters took the square back and set up the camp again. A similar operation took place in Lleida.

Puig is the new Home Affairs Minister, famous for his rough style. He is a survivor of the Pujol Governments, in which he held several posts, such as Spokesperson and Minister for Public Works. This civil engineer with a Bachelors degree in business administration is the number 2 in Artur Mas’ party, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya, the Liberal and Centrist wing of CiU.

Artur Mas has finally decided upon the composition of his government. Mas waited to swear office and officially become President of the Catalan Government to make public his ministers’ names. Harvard and Berkeley professor Andreu Mas-Colell will be the Economy and Universities Minister. ESADE professor and international consultant, Francesc Xavier Mena will be in charge of Business and Employment. Socialist Ferran Mascarell accepted Mas’ offer to become the next Culture Minister. The Christian-Democrats hold the Vice Presidency and responsibilities on Public Administration, Relations with Spain, Agriculture and the Environment.