Quim Torra

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

The Right Honourable
Quim Torra
Official portrait, 2018
131st[1] President of the Government of Catalonia
In office
17 May 2018 – 29 September 2020
MonarchFelipe VI
Vice PresidentPere Aragonès
Preceded byDirect rule
Carles Puigdemont until 28 October 2017)
Succeeded byPere Aragonès
Member of the Catalan Parliament
for the Province of Barcelona
In office
17 January 2018 – 27 January 2020
President of Òmnium Cultural
In office
21 July 2015 – 19 December 2015
Preceded byMuriel Casals
Succeeded byJordi Cuixart
Personal details
Born
Joaquim Torra i Pla

(1962-12-28) 28 December 1962 (age 61)
Blanes, Catalonia, Spain
Political partyTogether for Catalonia
Other political
affiliations		Reagrupament[2]
Democratic Union of Catalonia[2]
Spouse
Carola Miró
​
(died 2024)​
Children3
ResidenceBarcelona
Alma materAutonomous University of Barcelona
OccupationLawyer and editor
Signature

Joaquim Torra i Pla (Catalan: [ʒu.əˈkim ˈtorə i pla]; born 28 December 1962), known as Quim Torra, is a Catalan lawyer and journalist from Spain. He served as President of the Government of Catalonia from 17 May 2018 to 28 September 2020, when the Supreme Court of Spain confirmed a court ruling by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia condemning him for disobeying the Central Electoral Board during the April 2019 general election, leading to his disqualification from office.[3][4][5]

Born in Blanes, Torra graduated from the Autonomous University of Barcelona before joining the legal profession. He worked as executive for a multinational insurance company for twenty years before starting his own publishing company. He later held senior positions for the City of Barcelona and Generalitat de Catalunya.

A supporter of Catalan independence,[6][7] and former member of Democratic Union of Catalonia and Reagrupament,[2] Torra does not currently belong to any political party.[8] He has held senior positions in several pro-independence organisations including the Òmnium Cultural and Assemblea Nacional Catalana. He was elected to the Parliament of Catalonia at the 2017 regional election as an independent candidate for the pro-independence Together for Catalonia electoral alliance. In May 2018, he was elected 131st president of the Government of Catalonia,[9] after the Spanish courts blocked three other candidates.

  1. ^ "Presidents of the Generalitat". catalangovernment.eu. Generalitat de Catalunya. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Palà, Roger (15 December 2015). "Els hereus de Reagrupament". El Periódico.
  3. ^ "Puigdemont rejects being chosen as next Catalan leader". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  4. ^ Solé Altimira, Oriol (28 September 2020). "El Supremo inhabilita a Torra por unanimidad y remata la legislatura catalana". eldiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Torra recibe la notificación de la sentencia del Supremo y deja de ser presidente de Cataluña". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). EFE. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Quim Torra sworn in as Catalan president amid xenophobia claims". The Guardian. 17 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Quim Torra: Catalonia elects hardline separatist as new regional president". The Independent. 14 May 2018.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference EN100518 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Quim Torra pren possessió com a 131è president de la Generalitat". Generalitat de Catalunya (in Catalan). 17 May 2018. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.