Illa’s affirmation by Catalan parliament ends a decade of separatist regional rule within the northeastern Spanish area.
Catalonia’s parliament has confirmed Salvador Illa, an ally of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez whose Socialists got here first in Might’s regional election, as head of the Catalan authorities, ending greater than a decade of separatist rule.
Sanchez praised Illa’s appointment on Thursday, saying that he can be an amazing president for the regional authorities in Catalonia.
“We’ve labored collectively underneath essentially the most adversarial circumstances. I find out about your love for Catalonia. I do know your temperance, your frequent sense and your capacity to work. Precisely what Catalonia wants,” Sanchez wrote in a social media submit.
Illa will succeed Pere Aragones, of the Republican Left of Catalonia, which favours Catalan independence.
Nevertheless, in an indication of potential additional unease, Illa’s election was upstaged by separatist chief Carles Puigdemont, who appeared at a rally in Barcelona, defying an arrest warrant after seven years of self-imposed exile, after which vanished earlier than police might arrest him.
Puigdemont advised the group he aimed to revive the independence drive that plunged Spain right into a deep political disaster seven years in the past when Catalonia tried to secede from Spain following a referendum deemed unlawful by courts.
“I’ve come right now to remind you that we’re nonetheless right here,” Puigdemont advised 1000’s of cheering supporters. “Lengthy stay Catalonia.”
Puigdemont’s Junts per Catalunya occasion had are available second within the Might elections as he campaigned from France.
Independence in Catalonia, a area of seven.5 million folks in northeastern Spain, has been a significant sticking level in Spanish politics.
The 2017 referendum, which was backed by Puigdemont, requested voters whether or not they “need Catalonia to develop into an unbiased state within the type of a republic”.
The overwhelming majority of voters backed independence, however turnout was at 43 p.c as unionists boycotted the election.
Spain considered the ballot as illegitimate and cracked down on its organisers, arresting at the least 14 officers concerned within the push.
In 2021, Sanchez pardoned nine Catalan separatist leaders, promising an “period of dialogue”. Puigdemont was not amongst them.
