The Honourable
Miquel Buch
Buch in June 2018
Minister of the Interior
In office
2 June 2018 – 3 September 2020
PresidentQuim Torra
Preceded byJoaquim Forn
(Direct rule from 27 October 2017)
Succeeded byMiquel Sàmper
Mayor of Premià de Mar
In office
February 2007 – December 2017
Preceded byJaume Batlle i Garriga
Succeeded byMiquel Àngel Méndez Gil
Member of the Municipality Council of Premià de Mar
In office
2000 – December 2017
Preceded byLluís Cerdà
Personal details
Born
Miquel Buch i Moya

(1975-08-03) 3 August 1975 (age 48)
Premià de Mar, Catalonia, Spain
CitizenshipSpanish
Political partyTogether for Catalonia
Websitemiquelbuch.cat

Miquel Buch i Moya (born 3 August 1975) is a Spanish politician from Catalonia, Minister of the Interior of the autonomous community between 2018 and 2020. He was previously mayor of Premià de Mar, a municipality in north-eastern Spain.

Early life

Buch was born on 3 August 1975 in Premià de Mar, Catalonia.[1][2] He joined the Nationalist Youth of Catalonia (Joventut Nacionalista de Catalunya, JNC) and Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) in 1996.[1][3] He was national counsellor for JNC from 1997 to 2006 and for CDC since 2004.[2][3] He was a doorman in Titus discotheque in Badalona.[4]

Career

Buch worked for the family business and the Red Cross before entering local politics.[5][6] Buch contested the 1999 local elections as a Convergence and Union (CiU) electoral alliance candidate in Premià de Mar but failed to get elected. However, following the death of Lluís Cerdà he was appointed to the municipal council.[3] He was re-elected at the 2003 local elections.[7] After the election CiU formed an administration and Buch was appointed Deputy Mayor.[1][3] He became Mayor of Premià de Mar following the death of Jaume Batlle i Garriga in February 2007.[1][3][8] He was re-elected at the 2007, 2011 and 2015 local elections.[9][10][11]

Buch has served as president of the Catalan Association of Municipalities and Counties (ACMC), president of the Council of Local Government of Catalonia and vice-president of the Association of Municipalities for Independence.[1][3] He was also a member of the provincial deputation for Barcelona.[1]

Buch and other members of the Catalan government on 2 June 2018

Buch resigned as mayor in December 2017.[12][13] At the 2017 regional election Buch was placed 22nd on the Together for Catalonia (JuntsxCat) list of candidates in the Province of Barcelona but the alliance only managed to win 17 seats in the province and as a result he was not elected to the Parliament of Catalonia.[14][15] At the election Catalan secessionists retained a slim majority in the Catalan Parliament.[16][17] On 19 May 2018 newly elected President Quim Torra nominated a new government in which Buch was to be Minister of the Interior.[18][19][20] He was sworn in on 2 June 2018 at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya.[21][22][23]

In July 2020 Buch joined the newly formed Together for Catalonia political party.[24]

Personal life

Buch is married to Cesca and has three children - Oriol, Biel and Clara.[25][26] At 21 he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.[6]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Miquel Buch
Election Constituency Party Alliance No. Result
1999 local Premià de Mar Democratic Convergence of Catalonia Convergence and Union Not elected
2003 local[7] Premià de Mar Democratic Convergence of Catalonia Convergence and Union 3 Elected
2007 local[9] Premià de Mar Democratic Convergence of Catalonia Convergence and Union 1 Elected
2011 local[10] Premià de Mar Democratic Convergence of Catalonia Convergence and Union 1 Elected
2015 local[11] Premià de Mar Democratic Convergence of Catalonia Convergence and Union 1 Elected
2017 regional Province of Barcelona Catalan European Democratic Party Together for Catalonia 22 Not elected

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Miquel Buch Moya" (in Catalan). Premià de Mar, Spain: Municipality Council of Premià de Mar. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Un maresmenc, president dels municipis". Diari Maresme (in Catalan). Maresme, Spain. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "De la JNC a l'ACM". e-Notícies (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  4. ^ ""De jove anava al Titus de Badalona; el porter era Miquel Buch i no m'hi va deixar entrar"". RAC 1 (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Miquel Buch Moya" (in Catalan). Premià de Mar, Spain: Municipality Council of Premià de Mar. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  6. ^ a b Guillem, R. S. (19 May 2018). "Miquel Buch nomenat conseller d'Interior; qui és i què farà amb el major Trapero". Catalunya Diari (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Consulta de Resultados Electorales: Municipales / Mayo 2003 - Mun. Premià de Mar" (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Miquel Buch, del municipalismo soberanista a la Conselleria de Interior". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Europa Press. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Consulta de Resultados Electorales: Municipales / Mayo 2007 - Mun. Premià de Mar" (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Consulta de Resultados Electorales: Municipales / Mayo 2011 - Mun. Premià de Mar" (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Consulta de Resultados Electorales: Municipales / Mayo 2015 - Mun. Premià de Mar" (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Miquel Buch Moya" (in Catalan). Premià de Mar, Spain: Miquel Buch plega d'alcalde. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  13. ^ Cedó, Fede (30 November 2017). "Miquel Buch dimite de la alcaldía de Premià de Mar". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  14. ^ "Neus Lloveras i Miquel Buch, números 20 i 22 a la llista de Junts per Catalunya". La Vanguardia (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. Catalan News Agency. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  15. ^ Pruna, Gerard (1 December 2017). "Miquel Buch plega i obre el debat successori a l'ACM". Ara (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  16. ^ Jackson, Russell (22 December 2017). "Catalan independence supporters win majority in election". The Scotsman. Edinburgh, U.K. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  17. ^ Parra, Aritz; Giles, Ciaran (21 December 2017). "Catalan secessionist parties win slim majority in regional parliament". Toronto Star. Toronto, Canada. Associated Press. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  18. ^ "Torra nominates new government including jailed and exiled officials". Catalan News Agency. Barcelona, Spain. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  19. ^ "Torra nombra en su Govern a Aragonès, Artadi, Turull, Rull, Comín, Puig y Maragall". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  20. ^ Puente, Arturo (19 May 2018). "Torra nombra a los encarcelados Turull y Rull consellers de su nuevo Govern". eldiario.es (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  21. ^ "Catalan government takes office in emotional event, lifting direct rule". Catalan News Agency. Barcelona, Spain. 2 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  22. ^ Villalonga, Carles (2 June 2018). "El nuevo Govern de Torra toma posesión en un acto reivindicativo y escenifica el fin del 155". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  23. ^ "Los consellers toman posesión y prometen "lealtad" a Quim Torra". eldiario.es (in Spanish). Europa Press. 2 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  24. ^ March, Oriol (24 July 2020). "El PDECat certifica la divisió amb Puigdemont a les portes de la fundació de JxCat". Nació Digital (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  25. ^ Márquez, Teresa (1 August 2017). ""El poder absolut només recau sobre la ciutadania"". El Punt (in Catalan). Girona, Spain. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  26. ^ Aguilar, Joaquim (22 May 2015). "Entrevista a Miquel Buch, cap de llista de CiU a les Municipals 2015". Ràdio Premià de Mar (in Catalan). Premià de Mar, Spain. Retrieved 5 June 2018.

External links

Catalan nationalism and independence movement
Categories