- Government
- Presidents of the Generalitat
Government of Catalonia
Presidents of the Generalitat
Pere Aragonès i Garcia132nd president
2021 - present
Born in 1982 in Pineda de Mar, he is married and has one daughter. He holds a degree in Law from Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and a Master's degree in Economic History from the University of Barcelona. He has been Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economy and Finance since May 19th 2018 and has assumed functions of the Presidency of the Catalan Government since September 30th 2020, following the suspension of President Quim Torra by the Supreme Court. On May 24th 2020 he has been invested 132th President of the Government of Catalunya.
Quim Torra i Pla131st president: 2018 - 2020
Born in Blanes (Selva), 1962. Graduate in Law from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Lawyer and manager at Winterthur Seguros, 1987-2007. Founder of the publishing house A Contra Vent, director of the Born Cultural Centre and Revista de Catalunya. President of Sovereignty and Justice, 2010-11. Vice president of the board of Òmnium Cultural and acting president in 2015. Proclaimed the 131st president of the Government of Catalonia on 17 May 2018.
Carles Puigdemont130st president: 2016 - 2018
Born in Amer (Selva) on 29 December 1962. Member of the Parliament of Catalonia since November 2006. Mayor of Girona from 2011 to 2016. Chair of the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) from July 2015 to January 2016. Carles Puigdemont was proclaimed the 130th president of the Government of Catalonia on 12 January 2016.
Artur Mas129st president: 2010 - 2016
Born in Barcelona in 1956, Artur Mas was raised in an industrially active and business oriented family. In the 2010 Catalan elections, Artur Mas was elected as the 129th President of the Generalitat.
José Montilla128st president: 2006-2010
Born in Iznájar, Córdova (1955). In 1971 his family established themselves in Sant Joan Despí. He became Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade during the Premiership of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. He was President of the Generalitat between 2006 and 2010.
Pasqual Maragall127st president: 2003 - 2006
The grandson of poet Joan Maragall, Pasqual was born in Barcelona in 1941. He became Mayor of Barcelona in 1982 and the 1992 Summer Olympics allowed him to lead an internationally recognized urban development plan. In 2003 he was elected as President of the Generalitat.
Jordi Pujol126st president: 1980 - 2003
Born in Barcelona (1930).He received his medical degree from the University of Barcelona and became Deputy to the Spanish Congress from 1977. In 1980 he was elected as President of the Government of Catalonia and was re-elected in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1995 and 1999.
Josep Tarradellas125st president: 1954 - 1980
Born in Cervelló (1899). , Tarradellas became Deputy of the Spanish Cortes in 1931. Under the presidency of Francesc Macià he was Minister of Governance and Health and later Minister of Public Services, Economy, Finance and Culture during the Spanish Civil War. In 1954, whilst in exile, he was elected as President of the Generalitat.
Josep Irla124st president: 1940-1954
Born in Sant Feliu de Guíxols (1876), Irla was Deputy of the Spanish Cortes and Member of the Catalan Parliament for the ERC party. He later became the last president of the Catalan Parliament before its abolition by General Franco. After President Companys 's execution in 1940 he assumed the presidency of the Generalitat while in exile.
Lluís Companys123st president: 1933 - 1940
Born in Tarròs, Urgell (1882). In 1932 he was appointed as the first president of the Catalan Parliament before being elected as President of the Generalitat. While exiled, he was captured by the Gestapo and handed to Franco. He was subsequently executed by firing squad in 1940. Companys remains as the only elected president in Europe's history to have been executed.
Francesc Macià122st president: 1931 - 1933
Born in Vilanova i la Geltrú (1859),he was the first President and the restorer of the contemporary Generalitat. He was leader of the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya party and proclaimed the Republic of Catalonia from the Palau of the Generalitat on April 14th 1931.