Pedro Sánchez decided not to focus on Catalonia when designing the composition of his new Government, facing a legislature in which Catalonia can monopolize much of the political debate, with the processing of the controversial amnesty law already underway and the indispensable role played by Junts i Esquerra to sustain a mandate that is already fighting its first battles.
If compared to the first central executive of the coalition between the PSOE and Sumar, the number of Catalan ministers has decreased. It has thus gone from three – Miquel Iceta in Culture, Raquel Sánchez in Transport and Joan Subirats in Universities – in the previous legislature, to just two – Jordi Hereu in Industry and Ernest Urtasun in Culture – in the one that is now starting.
But this does not mean a decrease in the imprint or the Catalan influence in Moncloa, at the highest level. To begin with, because the connection of the President of the Spanish Government with the leader of the PSC, Salvador Illa – who in turn was also his Minister of Health – is absolute and direct. And with the great common desire to win back the presidency of the Generalitat after the next Catalan elections, after having already recovered, with Jaume Collboni, the mayorship of Barcelona. Nor does it mean that Catalonia loses weight in the structure and intertwining of the new central government.
In the upper hierarchical rank of the Cabinet there are, therefore, two ministers of great political weight, both for the Socialists and for the minority partner of the coalition, Sumar, led by the second vice-president, Yolanda Díaz. Having just landed from Hispasat, the former socialist mayor of the Catalan capital (2006-2011), Jordi Hereu (Barcelona, 1965), is thus the new head of the powerful Ministry of Industry and Tourism, which plays a key role in the management of European recovery funds and in the strategic projects deployed, with the high priority of promoting the reindustrialization of Spain. Germán Rodríguez, who previously held the same position with Carme Chacón in Defense and with Salvador Illa in Health, and was also a deputy for the PSC in Congress, returns to his side, as cabinet director.
The diplomat Ernest Urtasun (Barcelona, 1982), who already worked in the cabinets of Miguel Ángel Moratinos and Trinidad Jiménez at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was for many years a member of the European Parliament, takes over the reins of the Ministry of Culture , one of the departments assumed by the minority partner of the coalition, Sumar, formation in which he is also spokesperson. The testimony to Culture was given by veteran socialist Miquel Iceta (Barcelona, 1960) before being appointed Spain's new ambassador to Unesco, based in Paris.
In addition to these two ministers, the new Spanish Executive has three Secretaries of State who are also Catalan. Francesc Vallès (Reus, 1971), as Secretary of State for Communications, another veteran leader and ex-MP of the PSC, is returning to the post. And Eva Granados (Barcelona, 1975) joins, who, after being the spokesperson for the socialist group in Parliament and then in the Senate, is now the new Secretary of State for International Cooperation, assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In turn, Jordi Martí (Barcelona, 1965), former leader of the PSC in Barcelona City Council who later moved to En Comú with Ada Colau, of which he was deputy mayor, is the new secretary of State of Culture with Ernest Urtasun.
In the major investment ministry, that of Transport, Vallisole native Óscar Puente took over as head of portfolio from Catalan Raquel Sánchez (Gavà, 1975), who in turn awaits a new destination. But this ministry did not lose much of its Catalan accent.
To begin with, Puente confirmed the position of the president of Renfe, the Catalan Raül Blanco, another veteran leader of the PSC who already held management positions at the Ajuntament de l'Hospitalet and the Generalitat de Catalunya. The figure of Blanco – who replaced Isaías Táboas, who was in turn José Montilla's right-hand man in the Ministry of Industry and then in the presidency of the Generalitat – will now be a key piece in the negotiation of the transfer of Rodalies in Catalonia in this legislature.
In this ministerial area, another veteran Catalan socialist, Maurici Lucena (Barcelona, 1975), with an extensive management career in the public and private sectors, is also at the helm of the public company Aeroports Espanyols i Navegació Aéria (Aena), and who was also the spokesperson of the PSC in Parliament. In addition, Montserrat Mestres, from Barcelona, is the director of the State Air Safety Agency (Aesa).
And, among the large corporations with public participation, the Catalan Marc Murtra, who was also chief of staff to Joan Clos during his time as Minister of Industry (2006-2008), remains at the head of Indra.
The delegate of the central government in Catalonia is Carlos Prieto (Barcelona, 1975), also a member of the executive of the PSC. Meanwhile, at the Ministry of the Interior, the incombustible Pere Navarro (Barcelona, 1952) remains as general director of Traffic, and Elena Garzón (Barcelona, 1968) is the general director of International Relations and Foreign Affairs.
