Artur Mas

In this Catalan name, the first or paternal surname is Mas and the second or maternal family name is Gavarró; both are generally joined by the conjunction "i".

The Right Honourable
Artur Mas
Official portrait, 2011
129th[1] President of the Government of Catalonia
In office
24 December 2010 – 11 January 2016
MonarchsJuan Carlos I
Felipe VI
Vice PresidentJoana Ortega
Neus Munté
Preceded byJosé Montilla
Succeeded byCarles Puigdemont
First Minister of Catalonia
In office
19 January 2001 – 20 December 2003
PresidentJordi Pujol
Preceded byJosep Tarradellas (1937)
Succeeded byJosep-Lluís Carod-Rovira
Government Spokesperson of Catalonia
In office
2000 – 5 November 2002
PresidentJordi Pujol
Succeeded byFelip Puig
Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Catalonia
In office
27 May 2004 – 23 December 2010
Preceded byPasqual Maragall (2003)
Succeeded byJoaquim Nadal
Minister of Economy and Finance of Catalonia
In office
30 July 1997 – 17 January 2001
PresidentJordi Pujol
Preceded byMacià Alavedra
Succeeded byFrancesc Homs Ferret
Minister of Town and Country Town and Public Works of Catalonia
In office
15 June 1995 – 30 July 1997
PresidentJordi Pujol
Preceded byJaume Roma
Succeeded byPere Macias
Personal details
Born
Artur Mas i Gavarró

(1956-01-31) 31 January 1956 (age 68)
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
CitizenshipSpanish
Political partyIndependent (since 2023)
Other political
affiliations		Catalan European Democratic Party (2016–2023)
Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (1991–2016)
SpouseHelena Rakosnik
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Barcelona (BSS)
Signature

Artur Mas i Gavarró (Catalan pronunciation: [əɾˈtuɾ ˈmas]; born 31 January 1956) is a Catalan politician. He was president of the Government of Catalonia from 2010 to 2015[2] and acting president from September 2015 to 12 January 2016.

Mas is a long time member of Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC by its Catalan acronym) which used to be the bigger of the two component members –along with Unió Democràtica de Catalunya– of what at the time was a long-standing electoral coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), a liberal nationalist coalition which had dominated Catalan regional politics since the 1980s.[3] In 2001 Mas was named general secretary of CDC, then, in 2012 he was named president of the party[4] until the party was refounded in July 2016 as PDeCAT, which he presided between July 2016 and January 2018.

From 2003 to 2015, Mas has run five times for the Catalan presidency, four heading the –nowadays defunct– CiU ticket and one running for the novel Junts pel Sí coalition. He attained the presidency in two elections, 2010 and 2012 (both running for CiU) but neither with an absolute majority. In the absence of single party majorities, both tenures were marked by political instability and ended with Mas calling a snap election.

Mas is an economist who obtained his degree from the University of Barcelona, and is fluent in English and French, in addition to Catalan and Spanish.

His ideology tends to be considered liberal from the economic point of view and supportive of Catalan independence. From the social point of view, he has mostly supported a moderate agenda in numerous issues, such as gay rights, but not same-sex marriage[5] and free debate on his party concerning abortion.[6]

In 2010,[citation needed] for the first time, Mas indicated he would vote "Yes" on a hypothetical referendum to secede from Spain. Since then, sovereignty and Catalan independence have become the central part of his political agenda,[7][8] with Mas being instrumental in CDC's novel turn towards separatism.

  1. ^ "Presidents of the Generalitat". catalangovernment.eu. Generalitat de Catalunya. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  2. ^ Buck, Tobias (29 June 2017). "Catalonia's referendum exposes a divided Spain". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022.
  3. ^ "UDC sale del Govern y pone en jaque una alianza de 37 años de CiU". La Vanguardia. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya". Enciclopedia.cat. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Artur Mas, en el nacimiento de Convergais". Ambiente G. 27 May 2008. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  6. ^ ""No s'entén la llibertat de Millet"". Televisió de Catalunya. Archived from the original on 5 January 2012. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
  7. ^ "Artur Mas: Votaría sí en un referéndum sobre la independencia de Cataluña". Voz Libre. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  8. ^ Minder, Raphael (5 October 2012). "Catalan Leader Boldly Grasps a Separatist Lever". New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2023.