Generalitat of Catalonia - Current Status

Current Status

Artur Mas has been the president of the Generalitat (also leader of Convergence and Union) since mid-December 2010. His party did not obtain an absolute majority in the 2010 election, but is now in government on the basis of occasional pacts with other parties, as in the case of the pact with the Socialist Party to elect Artur Mas as President.

José Montilla was the president of the Generalitat until November 2010 (also leader of the Socialist Party), and was backed up by a tripartite coalition of left-wing and Catalan nationalist political parties. His party actually won fewer seats in parliament than the main opposition party, Convergence and Union, in the 2006 election, but as he gathered more support from MPs from other parties in the parliament, he was able to repeat the same coalition government that his predecessor (Pasqual Maragall) had formed in order to send CiU to the opposition for the first time after 23 years of Jordi Pujol's government.

On 18 June 2006, a reformed version was approved of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia and went into effect in August. In its inception, the reform was promoted by both the leftist parties in the government and by the main opposition party (CiU), which were united in pushing for increased devolution of powers from the Spanish government level, enhanced fiscal autonomy and finances, and explicit recognition of Catalonia's national identity; however the details of its final redaction were harshly fought and the subject became a controversial issue in the Catalan politics, with the ERC, themselves members of the Tripartite, opposing it.