President of the Government of Catalonia


The President of the Government of Catalonia is one of the bodies that the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia stipulates as part of the Generalitat de Catalunya, others being the Parliament, the government, the Consell de Garanties Estatutàries and the Síndic de Greuges. The president also serves as head of government of Catalonia, leading the executive branch of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Catalan government.
As of 17 May 2018, Quim Torra took on the title and powers of the President of the Government of Catalonia; after winning with a simple majority of 66 votes to 65 votes against and 4 abstentions the previous day in Parliament.

The current presidency

The President is elected by the Parliament of Catalonia and appointed by the King of Spain. The office has both representative and governmental functions.

Representative functions

The President holds the highest representation of the Generalitat and the ordinary of the State in the region. He is also in charge of the domestic relations with the other bodies of the State and with the autonomous communities of Spain that Catalonia shares interests with. The President is also responsible for calling for elections and appointing the regional ministers and other high offices as stipulated by law. As ordinary representative of the state in the region, he promulgates laws in the region in name of the king.

Governmental functions

The President is member of the Catalan government and leads and coordinates it. He selects and may dismiss the Consellers, call for a meeting of the executive council, and act as its chairman. Further, he signs decrees accorded by the executive council and order them to be published. He can also call for an extraordinary meeting of the Catalan parliament which, given the case, can be ordered to be dissolved or hold a general debate.
Moreover, the president must coordinate the legislative agenda of its government, the elaboration of general normatives and give all the information that parliament may decide to request.