Socialists Party of Catalonia
Which political party did Ernest Maragall belong to from 1978 to 2012?
Ernest Maragall Ernest Maragall i Mira ( born 5 January 1943 , in Barcelona ) is a Spanish economist , politician , member of the Parliament of Catalonia and former Minister of Foreign Action , Institutional Relations and Transparency of Catalonia . He was previously Minister of Education , a member of the European Parliament and a member of Barcelona City Council ( BCC ) . Born in 1943 in Barcelona , Maragall joined the anti-fascist Workers Front of Catalonia as a youth . He worked in advertising and marketing before holding several positions in BCC . A socialist , Maragall was one of the founders of the Socialist Convergence of Catalonia and its successors , the Socialist Party of Catalonia–Congress and Socialists Party of Catalonia ( PSC ) . He left the PSC in 2012 due to its opposition to Catalan independence and founded the pro-independence New Catalan Left which later merged with others to form the Left Movement . He is currently a member of the Republican Left of Catalonia . Maragall was a member of BCC from 1995 to 2004 and held several senior positions in the socialist administration , including that of his brother Pasqual who was Mayor of Barcelona till 1997 . He was elected to the Parliament of Catalonia in November 2003 but resigned upon being appointed secretary of the regional government presided by his brother Pasqual . He was re-elected to the Catalan Parliament in November 2006 but resigned again upon being appointed Minister of Education in the regional government presided by José Montilla . He was re-elected in November 2010 but the socialists lost power to the Convergence and Union and Maragall lost his ministerial post . Maragall was a member of the European Parliament from July 2014 to December 2016 and in December 2017 he was re-elected to the Catalan Parliament . In June 2018 he became Minister of Foreign Action , Institutional Relations and Transparency . Early life and family . Maragall was born on 5 January 1943 in Barcelona , Catalonia . He is the grandson of poet Joan Maragall , son of senator Jordi Maragall i Noble and brother of Pasqual Maragall , President of Catalonia and Mayor of Barcelona . He was educated at Virtene School and was a member of the Agrupament Escolta de la Confraria . He was a member of the Workers Front of Catalonia , an underground resistance movement against the fascist dictatorship of Francisco Franco , from its foundation in 1961 . Career . Maragall worked in advertising and marketing from 1958 and 1970 . He then held several positions at Barcelona City Council : computer analyst ( 1970–79 ) ; economist at the Technical Project Office ; manager of the Institut Cartogràfic de Barcelona S.A. ; and director-general of the Municipal Institute of Information Technology . Politics . Maragall was one of the founders of the Socialist Convergence of Catalonia ( CSC ) in 1974 . The CSC merged with other groups in 1976 to form the Socialist Party of Catalonia–Congress ( PSC–C ) , a forerunner to the Socialists Party of Catalonia ( PSC ) . He was a member of the executive committee of the Barcelona branch of the PSC from 1977 to 2012 . Local politics . Maragall contested the 1995 local elections as a PSC candidate in Barcelona and was elected . He was re-elected at the 1999 and 2003 local elections . Maragall was councillor of Finance and Public Function ( 1995–99 ) and Presidency and Finance ( 1999-04 ) . He was spokesperson for the city government led by mayor Joan Clos from July from 2001 to June 2003 . He was president of the District Council of Sant Andreu , Municipal Institute of Informatics and Municipal Institute of Finance , and vice-president of Municipal Institute of Education . He was the city councils representative in the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia , vice-president of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces Public Function Commission and vice-president of the Board of Directors of Localret . Regional politics . Maragall contested the 2003 regional election as a Socialists Party of Catalonia-Citizens for Change ( PSC–CpC ) electoral alliance candidate in the Province of Barcelona and was elected to the Parliament of Catalonia . He resigned from parliament in January 2004 . He was secretary of the regional government presided by his brother Pasqual from December 2003 to September 2006 . Maragall contested the 2006 regional election as a PSC–CpC electoral alliance candidate in the Province of Barcelona and was re-elected . He resigned from parliament in December 2006 . He was Minister of Education from November 2006 to November 2010 in the regional government led by José Montilla . Maragall contested the 2010 regional election as a PSC candidate in the Province of Barcelona and was re-elected . Maragall supported Catalan independence but the PSCs leadership opposed this and eventually Maragall and others left the party in October 2012 to form the pro-independence New Catalan Left ( NECat ) . He contested the 2014 European elections as The Left for the Right to Decide ( EPDD ) electoral alliance candidate and was elected to the European Parliament . NECat merged with Moviment Catalunya to form the Left Movement ( MES ) in November 2014 . In December 2016 , half-way through his term , Maragall resigned from the European Parliament to allow Jordi Solé i Ferrando to become an MEP . Maragall contested the 2017 regional election as a Republican Left of Catalonia–Catalonia Yes electoral alliance candidate in the Province of Barcelona and was elected . At the election Catalan secessionists retained a slim majority in the Catalan Parliament . Maragall was touted as a candidate for President of Catalonia . In May 2018 Maragall announced that he had joined the Republican Left of Catalonia ( ERC ) . On 19 May 2018 newly elected President Quim Torra nominated a new government in which Maragall was to be Minister of Foreign Action , Institutional Relations and Transparency . He was sworn in on 2 June 2018 at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya .