The presentation of Jordi Pujol's first book, From the hills to the other side of the river. Entre l'action i l'esperança (1978), written while in prison in Zaragoza during the Franco regime, in the years 1961 and 1962, and reedited now by Comanegra with unpublished fragments, has been converted this Wednesday afternoon into a tribute to the former president of the Generalitat in an Ona bookstore in which not even a pin could fit and in which an adjoining room had to be equipped with a screen and a projector.
Pujol, presented by the editor Joan Sala, the journalist Joan Safont and the young columnist Montserrat Dameson, stressed that the writings portray the moment in which a generation worked to "build Catalonia" and "restore the country's identity", understood as a language and culture, economic progress and integration, while calling for work along these lines.
In his speech, Pujol, 93, also pointed out that "the strength of Catalonia, which had been recovering, is now once again in danger of being pressured in a negative way" and has called for the recovery of "the will to move forward ". "It is necessary that we make a new effort," he remarked. About the book, the expresident has also highlighted that he "collects the old energy and the old illusion".
Likewise, the founder of the Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), has emphasized the importance of "hope" on more than one occasion, an aspect present in his thought and in the subtitle of his first book and also in another that It was published in 2021, Entre el dolor i l'esperança (Bow). "Hope has to be the basis of action", he remarked today.
The event, full of familiar faces and in which he was applauded and cheered upon arrival and several times during his speech, was attended by former president Artur Mas, several former councilors and leaders of the convergent and post-convergent space such as Joaquim Forn, Josep Rull, Meritxell Budó , Miquel Buch, Santi Vila, Irene Rigau, Lourdes Ciuró, Jaume Giró, Violant Cervera, Victòria Alsina, the ex-secretary general of the party, Jordi Sànchez, the ex-president of the Parliament Núria De Gispert and the now independent councilors of the Government Quim Nadal, with past in the PSC, and Carles Campuzano, who comes from Convergència.
Veteran members of the former Convergència and friends of the former president –accompanied today by several of his children– have also come to the bookstore, who contrasted with the militants of the Nationalist Youth of Catalonia, now youth of Junts per Catalunya and before CDC, as well as well as young people from other organizations that feel identified with the convergent legacy, such as Fòrum Demòcrata.
At the end of the presentation, in which there was also room for humor, the former president stayed for an hour signing books and taking photos with everyone who came up to him.
In this last year, Pujol has returned to public life after several years in ostracism due to the legal case that his family has open. This week he went to the funeral chapel of Josep Maria Espinàs, in the Palau de la Generalitat, and was also present on Monday at the campaign presentation of the JxCat candidate for mayor of Barcelona, Xavier Trias. Since he took part in a government event a year ago at the University of Barcelona, the founder of the CDC has been seen at various political and cultural events, despite the fact that he suffered a stroke in September.
Pujol is scheduled to present another book on March 1 in Barcelona. The work, brief, is based on an interview between the former president and the Japanese catalanophile Ko Tazawa, who passed away a few months ago. The ill-fated Japanese writer, translator of Japanese works into Catalan and vice versa, had a conversation lasting more than four hours with Pujol in Queralbs in the summer, which are now collected in the book The Last Conversation (Meeting in Queralbs), from the Lapislàtzuli publishing house.
