Ernest Maragall

Ernest Maragall i Mira (Catalan pronunciation: [əɾˈnez məɾəˈɣaʎ]; 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.

Born in 1943 in Barcelona, Maragall joined the anti-fascist Workers' Front of Catalonia in his 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.