The Honourable
Joana Ortega
Vice President of Catalonia
In office
29 December 2010 – 22 June 2015
PresidentArtur Mas
Preceded byJosep-Lluís Carod-Rovira
Succeeded byNeus Munté i Fernández
Counsellor of Governance and Institutional Relations
In office
29 December 2010 – 22 June 2015
PresidentArtur Mas
Preceded byJordi Ausàs
Succeeded byMeritxell Borràs i Solé
Personal details
Born (1959-11-13) 13 November 1959 (age 64)
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Political partyDemocratic Union of Catalonia
Other political
affiliations		Convergence and Union
Alma materAbat Oliba CEU University

Joana Ortega i Alemany (born 13 November 1959 in Barcelona) was the vice president of the government of the Generalitat de Catalunya and Counsellor of Government and Institutional Relations from 2010 until 2015. She has also been a deputy at the Parliament of Catalonia from 2006 to 2015. She was the first woman who has occupied the seat of vice president.[1]

She has a degree in psychology from Barcelona's Abat Oliba CEU University (UAO CEU)

Since 2006, Ortega has been a member of Parliament, being elected chairwoman of the Committee on the Catalan Corporation for Audiovisual Media (CCMA), the government-owned radio and TV holding. From 2002 to 2003 she headed the Catalan Institute for Women, the Catalan government's agency promoting gender equality, and the Catalan National Women Council, its civil society outreach branch. Since 2010, she has served as deputy prime minister and minister for government affairs and institutional relations.

In local politics, Ortega was a member of Barcelona City Council from 1996 to 2007. During that period, she was executive council member for the Eixample district (the area built in the 19th century, which includes among others Gaudi's Sagrada Familia) and vice president of Proeixample, a local council-owned company devoted to urban renewal. She also served as fourth vice president of the Barcelona County Council and ruling coalition CiU's spokesperson at Barcelona Local Councils Federation and at the Barcelona Connurbation Council.

Ortega appeared in court in Barcelona on 13 October 2015, to face criminal charges of having assisted in the organisation of the 2014 Catalan self-determination referendum, which the Spanish courts deem illegal. Fellow ministers Artur Mas and Irene Rigau also face charges.[2] Large public protests took place in Barcelona the same day in support of the accused.

In March 2017, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia condemned Artur Mas, Joana Ortega and Irene Rigau to fines and were barred from office between 18 and 24 months.[3] Although they were acquitted of charges of misappropriation of public funds, The Court of Auditors has also been judging them as accounting officers for the referendum preparations and claims 5,2 million euros.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Joana Ortega i Alemany - El Consell Executiu - El Govern". govern.cat. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2012-10-13.
  2. ^ "La plaça de Sant Jaume, plena de gom a gom en suport als encausats pel 9-N" (in Catalan). VilaWeb. 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
  3. ^ Jones, Sam (2017-03-13). "Catalan ex-president Artur Mas barred from holding public office". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  4. ^ Terol, Alan Ruiz. "Court of Auditors orders Mas to pay €5.2m for November 9 vote". www.catalannews.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
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Political offices Preceded byJosep-Lluís Carod-Rovira Vice President of Catalonia 2010–2015 Succeeded byNeus Munté i Fernández Political offices Preceded byJordi Ausàs Counsellor of Governance and Institutional Relations 2010–2015 Succeeded byMeritxell Borràs i Solé
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