Carme Forcadell: "Money was important to me when I was young, because I couldn't make ends meet."

Linguist and politician Carme Forcadell (Xerta, 1955) grew up in a hard-working family dedicated to farming. "When there were oranges, we all went to pick them," she recalls. At 14, she began tutoring a neighbor and later worked as a babysitter.

She was the first woman in her family to go to university, where she studied philosophy and communications sciences. "I started working to help my parents pay for my studies," she explains. During her student days, she also worked at Giravolt, a TVE news program. In fact, despite not working professionally, she has always enjoyed journalism: "One person I greatly admire is Txell Feixas. I always thought I would have liked to do the work she does."

She became interested in the language at a very young age. She was shocked when she left Xerta, her hometown in the Baix Ebre region, to study in Barcelona: "Sometimes I saw two Catalans speaking Spanish, and this shocked me; I came from a village and there everyone spoke Catalan." Thus, she has dedicated her professional life to the Department of Education, working to promote and teach Catalan. Her involvement has transcended the professional sphere, and she was a member of several associations before taking the big leap: "From a certain point on, people started asking me to enter politics." She says she had a harder time: "When you speak, because you're a woman, they pay less attention to you. And even more so 30 years ago."

"I've combined everything I've done with my voluntary work in the Department of Education," she asserts. The only time she has dedicated herself fully to politics was when she was Speaker of the Catalan Parliament in the midst of the independence process: "Presiding over the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), I had a great time because everyone worked voluntarily; it was a very good environment," she recalls. "But later, as Speaker of the Parliament, I suffered a lot." From that time, she notes that many laws were passed: "With the issue of the Process, I think the social work that was done wasn't valued enough; I think a lot was done." Among other things, she is proud of having passed the timetable reform, initiated the equality plan, passed the historical memory law, but above all, "of having defended the freedom and sovereignty of the Parliament."

However, the price was high, and in March 2018, she was imprisoned as a political prisoner with a sentence of eleven and a half years. From that time, she regrets not having conducted the trial in Madrid in Catalan. She did, however, speak it during her stay in the Mas de Enric penitentiary: "A group of Roma women came to talk to me and tell me they were very worried because I would have to speak Spanish in court. And since they thought I didn't know it, they would teach me."

On the other hand, he asserts that politicians' salaries don't compensate for their hard work: "I left home at seven in the morning and didn't know what time I'd get back. Those were a lot of hours, and so I think that despite their bad reputation, politicians work hard. And outside of politics, a good professional is much better paid." In fact, he asserts that he's never made a career decision based on salary: "I've never given much thought to financial matters. It's also true that I've never gone without food. For me, money was important when I was young, because I couldn't make ends meet, because I didn't have any. But later, once you have a job and get paid, I think they become a thing."

As for her personal finances, she doesn't consider herself overly frugal and points out that her biggest expense is travel. Years ago, she and her partner bought an apartment in Sabadell: "I've paid off the mortgage, but we've had the apartment for over 35 years." She adds: "I have a house in Xerta, which I also enjoy, although it belongs to my husband, and I also have a parking space."

Forcadell is currently retired but not idle: "I don't understand how I could work and do everything I used to do. I continue working with the Platform for Language, Natividad Yarza Planas, the Friends of Casa Macià... I'm retired professionally, but not politically or socially. Besides, I work on topics that I like and that I like and that I like and."