Most of the names that will form Salvador Illa’s new Executive Council are already known. After the names of Albert Dalmau for the Presidency and Alicia Romero for the Economy were announced on Saturday, as well as Nuria Parlon for the Interior, it is expected that the rest of the ministers will be announced on Sunday.
One of the most prominent will be Silvia Paneque, who, according to TV3, will combine the Territory portfolio with the Government spokesperson and will also be the head of housing. The Girona native, winner of the last elections in her city, is one of Illa’s most trusted people.
Another of the names that will be part of the social area will be Mónica Martínez Bravo, as reported by eldiario.es, in charge of Social Rights and Inclusion, which means that she will have to manage the Minimum Vital Income recently transferred to the Generalitat. This is an area that she knows well because Martínez Bravo has just been the general secretary of Inclusion in the Ministry headed by Elma Saiz.
Another economic portfolio, in this case Enterprise and Employment, will be held by one of Illa’s few new recruits. Miquel Sàmper will be the head of this department, which once again combines the powers of economic promotion with those of employment after these had been in different departments in the last Government.
Coming from CiU in the Terrassa City Council, Sàmper was Minister of the Interior in Quim Torra’s Government, at a time when Junts was trying to smooth relations with the Mossos. But recently, the former minister has been distancing himself from Carles Puigdemont’s party until he announced that he was breaking his membership card, last February.
Retired doctor Olga Pané will now take over the Health portfolio. After having worked as manager of the Hospital del Mar, Pané is a woman that Illa had already mentioned as his possible head of health before the 2021 elections and who is now being brought back.
For its part, the Education Department will be led by Esther Niubó, as reported by EFE. Niubó is, like Paneque or Romero, another of the deputies who have been pillars of Illa’s team in the opposition in recent years and who will now take on portfolios that are known to them for their parliamentary work.
Eva Menor is another of the names that will form part of the Executive. In this case, as El Periódico has reported, the former mayor of Badia del Vallès will be the Minister of Equality and Feminism.
Interior is a portfolio reserved for Núria Parlon since it was announced during the electoral campaign, as it is known that alongside her, as general director of the Police, will be Josep Lluís Trapero, a ‘major’ of the Mossos who will now occupy a position political.
Among the new additions is a name that was in the running: Ramón Espadaler. The leader of Units per Avançar, the party that inherited Unió and which has a stable electoral agreement with the PSC, will be in charge of the Justice portfolio, which in Catalonia includes the management of penitentiary services.
The department that was called Climate Action in the last legislature will return to its previous name, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, and will be led by Òscar Ordeig, until now a socialist deputy. It will be Territory, on the other hand, that will now obtain the powers over the Environment.
The position of Universities and Research will be occupied by Núria Montserrat, a woman with a highly technical profile who comes from the world of research, in her case specialising in biomedicine.
Illa has also opted for a new foreign minister. In this case, it is Jaume Duch, director of communications and spokesperson for the European Parliament, a position he has held for more than a decade.
Another of the expected names was the new head of the Linguistic Policy department, agreed with ERC in their investiture agreement. Finally, the person in charge of this matter will be Francesc Xavier Vila, according to the newspaper Ara, who was precisely the secretary of Linguistic Policy in the last Government of Pere Aragonès. With this signing, Illa guarantees the continuity of an area that will now have the rank of a ministry.
Something similar happens with the person chosen as the new Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández Almodóvar, who comes directly from the previous Government where she held the position of Director General of Cultural Heritage.
One of the surprises is the creation of a new sports department. Its head will be Berni Álvarez, former basketball player and current coach and councillor in Tarragona.
All the names that are known so far
President: Albert Dalmau
Territory and Spokesperson: Silvia Paneque
Economy: Alicia Romero
Company and Work: Miquel Sàmper
Hello: Olga Pané
Education: Esther Niubó
Social Rights and Inclusion: Monica Martinez Bravo
Universities and Research: Núria Montserrat
Equality and Feminism: Eva Menor
Interior: Nuria Parlon
Justice and Democratic Quality: Ramon Espadaler
Agriculture, Livestock and Fishing: Óscar Ordeig
European Union and External Action: Jaume Duch
Linguistic Policy: Francesc Xavier Vila
Culture: Sonia Hernández Almodóvar
Sports: Berni Alvarez
Secretary: Javier Villamayor
Source: www.eldiario.es
