Controversy with Christopher Person: Former Catalan government delegates in Northern Catalonia demand his dismissal

BarcelonaThe representative of Salvador Illa's government in Northern Catalonia is increasingly under fire. Within Northern Catalan civil society, there is discontent with Christopher Person, the director of the Generalitat in Perpignan, who even denies the validity of the designation. Northern Catalonia. Several mayors are mobilizing to ask Isla to make him give in, like the Northern Catalan party Unitat Catalana, as well as Junts, ERC, and the CUP; but now his predecessors in office have also asked for it. The previous delegates have made public a letter in which they demand that Isla dismiss Person. In a document, to which ARA has had access, all of Person's living predecessors criticize him for the "arrogance and ignorance" he displays, in their opinion, and warn that he puts "at risk the credibility gained over the last twenty years" by the institution.

The letter is signed by Enric Pujol, who led the Delegation between 2004 and 2005; Jordi Fernández-Cuadrench (2005-2010); Joan Gaubí (2011-2014); Josep Puigbert (2014-2022), and Alfons Quera (2022-2024). That is to say, it bears the signatures of directors from all eras, from the tripartite governments of Pasqual Maragall and José Montilla to the presidencies of Artur Mas, Carles Puigdemont, Quim Torra and Pere Aragonès. The only absence is that of Maryse Olivé, who was the first to preside over the institution when it was created in 2003, and who died in 2017.

In the letter, they reproach Person for the controversies that had surrounded him since his appointment, accentuated by the explanations he gave in Parliament. Northern Catalonia, "fully rooted in the territory and commonly used by northern Catalan institutions." They also criticize him for stating that "the Catalan language is not spoken" in the northern regions. For all these reasons, they warn of "great indignation and rejection among political and social representatives in the north and south of Catalonia" over his statements, which "not only contravene the policy and founding missions of the Generalitat in Perpignan," but are also "a grave disregard for the Catalans of the north and south" under "a lack of attention."

Comunicat Antics Directors Casa Generalitat a Perpinyà

Thus, the former delegates to Northern Catalonia are urging Isla to "place at the head of the team of professionals working there a person who combines the knowledge of the country and the essential sense of diplomacy to efficiently carry out this task." These are skills that, in their opinion, the current director, "in the few months he has been in the position, has amply demonstrated that he lacks."