The spectacle that took place yesterday in Catalonia has provoked great indignation throughout Spain, including in sport. The day of Salvador Illa’s investiture had as its undisputed protagonist the former president of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, who once again fled Catalonia, mocking the operation of the Mossos d’Esquadra and, in passing, the Ministry of the Interior led by Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the person in charge of the police pursuit of the fugitive separatist.
The main actor of the day It was supposed to be the Socialist Party, but Puigdemont’s flight left the investiture session in the background. The Catalan chamber has never experienced a similar situation.
An hour before the start of the plenary session, the moment most awaited by the independence movement since 2017 arrived: Puigdemont’s return to Catalonia. He walked freely, cheered by his supporters, gave his speech on the platform and said goodbye shouting “Visca Catalunya lliure” with his fist raised. From then on, the dislocation was total. He was seen getting off the platform with his lawyer Gonzalo Boye and simply disappeared into the crowd heading to the only door enabled to access the Ciutadella park, where the Catalan Parliament is located. An hour later, seeing that Puigdemont was nowhere to be found, the Mossos’ “Plan Jaula” was activated, but without the expected results.
After the surreal escape Much has been said about his political career, his pending accounts with the law, his assets and his more personal side. But There is a football detail that few know about his past.
Girona chronicler!
Puigdemont (Amer, Girona, 1962), married with two daughters, He studied Catalan Philology at the Girona University College, and during his time as a journalist he was editor-in-chief of the newspaper El Punt, a newspaper he began working for in 1981.
Between 1999 and 2002 He was the first director of the Catalan News Agency, the public news agency of the Generalitat, and was also general director of the newspaper Catalonia Today, a Catalan newspaper written in English that he helped to promote. For almost three decades his professional activity was related to the communications sector, except for the period in which he was director of the Casa de Cultura de Girona from 2002 to 2004, while from 2006 he began to actively dedicate himself to politics from the capital of Girona.
But his career is also closely linked to football. He is a fan of Girona, of which he is a member, and of FC Barcelona, where he has a great relationship with Joan Laporta. For example, they met in Perpignan at the beginning of July 2020 to gather the support of the pro-sovereignty leader in his attempt to stand again in the elections for the Barça club.
However, there is an anecdote that few know about his beginnings as a journalist and that was revealed by the Cope network. At the age of 16, he made his first steps in the newspaper Los Sitios, now Diari de Girona, where he made his debut in the world of communication by writing sports chronicles. Puigdemont was for a time the correspondent of his town’s teamjust as it did in the provincial capital.
Now, He follows his beloved club from a distance, although he usually shows his constant support through social networks.