Former president of the Catalan parliament Joan Rigol passed away at the age of 81, El País reported.
The historic leader of the Democratic Union of Catalonia (Unión Democrática de Cataluña) was chosen by Catalan President Artur Mas to lead the National Pact for the Right to Decide (PNDD), which united 3,000 organisations.
The former vice-president of the Senate argued that the Catalan issue could only be solved through a legal vote. And despite his affiliation to the Democratic Union, he was always seen as a man of consensus.
Rigol’s death was confirmed on Tuesday by Ramon Espadaler, secretary general of the United to Advance (Units per Avançar) and Secretary General of the Democratic Union of Catalonia until its dissolution.
Joan Rigol i Roig, a Catalan nationalist and Christian Democrat politician with a long political career, has left us. He was a member of Unió Democràtica de Catalunya until 2015 and, among other responsibilities, he presided over the Catalan Parliament (1999-2003).
In 1988 he was elected CiU deputy in Parliament. He was also appointed president of the Catalan Chamber, the most important institutional position he held until 2003, in 1999, coinciding with the beginning of Jordi Pujol’s last term in office.
Member of the European Parliament and former president of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont was one of those who expressed his condolences on Rigol’s death on X social platform.
President Rigol has left us. The news hits the hearts of many people, especially me. We have always felt him by our side, and I have seen him fight tirelessly for a free and fair Catalonia. He always remembered that ‘a nation is a well-made generational relief.’ My condolences to the family and friends. May the Honorable President Joan Rigol rest in peace.
