Outrage over Salvador Illa's delegate denying Northern Catalonia

BarcelonaThe director general of the Catalan government in Perpignan, Christopher Person (Cervera, 1992), has sparked unrest in Northern Catalonia. This is because on Thursday, in a committee meeting in the Parliament, he denied the use of Northern Catalonia as a territory, even though he is its delegate, and refused to use this name or even that of Roussillon. The mayor of Los Baños and El Palaldà, Maria Costa, informed ARA that she is promoting a joint letter with other Northern Catalan mayors to the president of the Catalan government, Salvador Illa, calling for Person's dismissal. For now, she says, she has "a dozen" mayors on the same page. The Northern Catalan party, Unity Catalana, has also called for his resignation, as have Junts, ERC, and the CUP. And the rejection has also reached the Elna City Council, according to ARA, which is now Sí al País Catalana.

But who is Person, and why has he caused such a stir? In October 2024, Isla appointed Person as director of the Casa de la Generalitat in Perpignan, the government delegation in Northern Catalonia created in 2003. This native of Cervera, born in France, speaks Catalan, English, French, and Spanish, and has knowledge of Russian, Portuguese, Italian, and German, according to his nomen. A graduate in applied languages from the Lyon III Jean-Moulin University, a political scientist from the UAB, and a master's degree in Anglophone civilization and sociology from the Sorbonne, he has worked at Apple (in Ireland), was operations manager for ETL-YANG in Madrid, Portugal, and France, and has also been responsible for marketing campaigns. As a delegate, he was already controversial when he sent Christmas greetings in French rather than Catalan, which he justified by a technical problem.

The current controversy arose when he said this in the Parliament: "The French state only recognizes the name Pyrénées-Orientales, and we, from the delegation, or at least I as director general, must maintain institutional neutrality."

Rejection

Maria Costa, as mayor, is "outraged" by the "unacceptable" words of someone who "arrives as if this were Mars." "We will write on Isla, I want him to leave," she emphasizes, and warns that if this does not happen, she will promote a "boycott" to meet with him and do nothing with him. "He has not understood that the role of the director of the Casa de la Generalitat is to suture a historical scar, to erase the border effect" following the Treaty of the Pyrenees of 1659, which divided Catalonia in two between Spain and France.

The deputy mayor ofElnaPere Manzanares, a long-standing Catalanist leader and driving force behind Ràdio Arrels and the Bressola, asserts that the matter is "regrettable." "All the directors of the House of Perpignan have used the term "Catalunya del Nord," and many French politicians as well." "At a time when Catalan identity is progressing, like north-south exchanges, it's a setback," he laments, although he already sensed Person's attitude, who "receives very few people and is very isolated." In fact, he recalls that there is a future on the horizon. a consultation to change the name and abandon the Pyrénées-Orientales designation to incorporate Catalan identity, with options like País Català or Pirineus Catalans.

Yes, in the País Català, there is pressure to hold this referendum. Its leader, Jordi Vera, emphasizes that he is not surprised by Person: "He is the PSC representative in Perpignan; for the PSC, it is France, and he says what he is told to say," he says, referring to the Catalan government. He is not outraged because he is "cured of fear" and sees it as logical in "the state policy of Spain." He also notes that Person's movements are with "the socialist friends of the department and the region of Occitania." He does recall that there is a sign at the entrance to the same department that says "Welcome to Northern Catalonia," which, in his opinion, was put up as a gesture toward the Catalan nationalists of the south, and maintains that País Català is the most widespread term among the population, and the one seen at the entrance to 200 of the 226 municipalities. The department already uses it as a tourist brand, and it could be the territory's new name.