Aragonés gives up his former president's salary and goes to work for the family business.

BarcelonaJust over a year after losing the presidency of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès is giving up his former president's salary to work for the family business. Back in May, in an interview in the ARAThe former president stated that he had plans for his future that did not involve politics. He ruled out practicing law—he has a law degree—and has finally opted for the family business, a hotel chain based in Pineda de Mar, Golden Hotels. He will combine this with his doctoral thesis, which he resumed at the University of Barcelona a few months ago, and with teaching at the University of Vic, where he will teach economic history. Aragonés will not receive the annual allowance he earned as former president—approximately €108,000—but will retain the office he had set up in the North Pavilion of the Palau de Pedralbes in Barcelona.

"It is essential to know how to close stages well to remain useful: neither cling to positions, nor turn them merely into a means of subsistence, nor end up reduced to a showcase figure," justifies Aragonès in a letter published this Tuesday to X. In August of last year, Aragonès became, at the age of 42, the former president "exclusively dedicated to politics" to move into the world of private enterprise. Aragonès will take over from her father, Pere Aragonès, who is retiring as CEO, and will go on to manage the family business, which has eight hotels in Pineda de Mar, Salou, Vila-seca and Tossa de Mar.

"Until now it was a business with which I had had no relationship, beyond after-dinner conversations," says Aragonès, who adds that the decision was made due to the need for "generational change and recent family circumstances that have accelerated this step." The former president of the Generalitat also adds that the career path he had planned to take did not involve "any quota, nor entering through any back door or revolving door" in any company. The move to the family business was a question he had considered, according to sources close to the former president, but while he was in institutional politics, he wanted to separate one thing from another.

Aragonès formally communicated his resignation to the Government on September 10, and it will become effective this Tuesday; that is, as of today, he will no longer receive the salary of a former president. He could receive his remuneration as a former president for four years. The law on former presidents stipulates that individuals who have served as president of the Generalitat are entitled to receive an allowance equivalent to 80% of the monthly salary they received during "half of their time in office and, at least, for one term." This latter case is that of Aragonès, who after four years would no longer receive any remuneration until retirement.

Aragonès is moving away from the political frontline, although in recent months he had already remained in the background, also in the internal war that Esquerra experienced last year. The former president, despite supporting the candidacy that bet on Oriol Junqueras stepping aside and headed by Xavier Godàs, did not get involved in its internal campaign. A few months ago, Aragonès met with the Esquerra leader, but the contact is not daily or habitual.

The situation of the other former presidents

Aragonés is not the first former president of the Generalitat to waive his salary. Currently, there are three former presidents who do not receive this allowance. José Montilla waived his lifetime pension when he was appointed Minister of Enagás in 2020. Neither does Jordi Pujol, who resigned after confessing to leaving. Carles Puigdemont did not accept the former president's salary when he was removed from office following the application of Article 155. The Junts leader has been paid as a member of the Catalan Parliament and the European Parliament, and is now once again a member of the Catalan parliament. Pasqual Maragall, Quim Torra, and Artur Mas do receive their allowance: Maragall and Mas receive their lifetime pensions, and Torra receives his former president's salary. All former presidents, except Jordi Pujol, retain their positions.