Elsa Artadi i Vila (born 19 August 1976) is a Spanish economist, academic and politician from Catalonia. Artadi is a member of the Parliament of Catalonia and was previously Minister of the Presidency and Government Spokesperson of Catalonia.

Elsa Artadi
Artadi in July 2018
Minister of the Presidency of Catalonia
In office
2 June 2018 – 24 March 2019
PresidentQuim Torra
Preceded byJordi Turull
Succeeded byMeritxell Budó
(Direct rule until 2 June 2018)
Government Spokesperson of Catalonia
In office
2 June 2018 – 24 March 2019
PresidentQuim Torra
Preceded byJordi Turull
Succeeded byMeritxell Budó
(Direct rule until 2 June 2018)
Member of the Parliament of Catalonia
In office
17 January 2018 – 10 May 2022
ConstituencyBarcelona
Personal details
Born
Elsa Vila i Artadi

(1976-08-19) 19 August 1976 (age 48)
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
CitizenshipSpanish
Political partyTogether for Catalonia
Alma materPompeu Fabra University
Harvard University
OccupationEconomist, academic

Born in 1976 in Barcelona, Artadi studied economics at Pompeu Fabra University and Harvard University before becoming an academic. She taught economics at Bocconi University and was visiting professor at several other universities. Later she held various senior positions at the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Artadi was elected to the Parliament of Catalonia at the 2017 regional election as an independent candidate for the pro-independence Together for Catalonia electoral alliance. She was Minister of the Presidency and Government Spokesman between June 2018 and March 2019.

Early life

edit

Artadi was born on 19 August 1976 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.[1] Her mother Esther Artadi manages a small estate agent.[2] Her parents separated when she was young and Elsa and her brother Patrick have chosen to use their mother's surname, Artadi, first rather than their father's surname, Vila.[2]

Artadi studied at an independent school in Barcelona.[3] After school Artadi joined the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) in 1994, graduating in 1998 with a degree in economics.[1][3][4] She received a Master's degree from UPF in 2000.[1][3] She joined Harvard University in 2000 on a scholarship from Fundació "la Caixa", receiving a master's degree (2002) and a doctorate (2006) in economics from the university.[1][5]

Career

edit

Artadi taught economics at the Bocconi University in Milan between 2006 and 2010.[5][6] During this period she was also a visiting professor at Fudan University in Shanghai (2007), UPF (2009–10) and Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (2009–11).[5][7] She was also a member of the World Bank's scientific committee in Casablanca (2008), a consultant to the World Bank in Washington, D.C. (2009) and a member of the European Economic Association's scientific committee (2009–10).[3][5][6]

Artadi joined the Generalitat de Catalunya, Catalonia's regional government, in 2011 as an economic advisor to Andreu Mas-Colell, the Minister of Economy and Finance.[5][8] In 2013 she became managing director of the generalitat's Entitat Autònoma de Jocs i Apostes, serving until 2015. She was also Director General of Tax and Game during this time. She was promoted to Finance Secretary in 2015 and in early 2016 she became Director-General of Inter-departmental Coordination.[9][10][11]

Artadi became a member of the Catalan nationalist Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) in the summer of 2016.[5][6] She became a member of the PDeCAT's executive, taking responsibility for studies and programs, but later left the party due to differences.[6][12]

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

Artadi contested the 2017 regional election as an independent Together for Catalonia (JuntsxCat) electoral alliance candidate in the Province of Barcelona and was elected to the Parliament of Catalonia.[13][14] At the election Catalan secessionists retained a slim majority in the Catalan Parliament.[15][16] Artadi was spokesperson for the JuntsxCat parliamentary group.[17] On 19 May 2018 newly elected President Quim Torra nominated a new government in which Artadi was to be Minister of Enterprise and Knowledge and Government Spokesperson.[18][19][20] However, the Spanish government condemned the inclusion of jailed/exiled politicians in the government as provocative and refused to approve Torra's appointments or to revoke direct rule.[21][22][23] Faced with this opposition Torra announced a new government on 29 May 2018 without the jailed/exiled politicians.[24][25] Artadi was to be Minister of the Presidency and Government Spokesperson in the new government.[26][27][28] She was sworn in on 2 June 2018 at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya.[29][30][31] She resigned in March 2019 to contest the 2019 local elections as the JuntsxCat's number two candidate in Barcelona.[32][33]

In July 2020 Artadi joined the newly formed Together for Catalonia political party.[34]

Personal life

edit

Artadi was married to architect Alberto Arraut.[2][5] She is a yoga enthusiast and enjoys running and water colour painting.[8][35]

Electoral history

edit
Electoral history of Elsa Artadi
Election Constituency Party Alliance No. Result
2017 regional[13] Province of Barcelona Independent Together for Catalonia 10 Elected

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d "Perfil i trajectòria professional dels alts càrrecs de l'Administració de la Generalitat de Catalunya" (PDF) (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain: Generalitat de Catalunya. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Landaluce, Emilia (12 February 2018). "Elsa Artadi, la candidata de la 'Upper Diagonal' que fue novia a la fuga". El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d Ruiz Valdivia, Antonio (12 January 2018). "19 cosas que no sabías de Elsa Artadi". HuffPost (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  4. ^ Regué, Júlia (9 February 2018). "El currículum de Elsa Artadi que desdeña Albiol". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Guerra, Andrés (8 February 2018). "Elsa Artadi, del campus de Harvard al Palau de la Generalitat". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d Jiménez, David (2 December 2017). "Perfil: Elsa Artadi, de la Grossa a estratega de Puigdemont". Diari de Girona (in Catalan). Girona, Spain. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  7. ^ "El currículum d'Elsa Artadi, la millor resposta al menyspreu d'Albiol". VilaWeb (in Catalan). 9 February 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  8. ^ a b Hinojosa, Silvia (15 April 2017). "La gurú económica de Presidència". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  9. ^ "El Govern nomena Elsa Artadi i Vila nova secretària d'Hisenda del Departament d'Economia i Coneixement". VilaWeb (in Catalan). 3 November 2015. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  10. ^ Sallés, Quico (15 December 2015). "Refuerzos negociadores, misiles y 'Oh happy day' en el Parlament". El Nacional (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  11. ^ Lasalas, Marta (22 January 2016). "Nuevo president, nuevo 'pinyol'". El Nacional (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  12. ^ Tomás, Nicolas (24 July 2016). "Qui és qui a la primera direcció del Partit Demòcrata Català". El Temps (in Catalan). Valencia, Spain. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Eleccions al Parlament de Catalunya 2017: Composició del Parlament" (in Catalan). Generalitat de Catalunya. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Los 135 diputados del Parlament de Catalunya tras el 21-D". La Vanguardia (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  15. ^ Jackson, Russell (22 December 2017). "Catalan independence supporters win majority in election". The Scotsman. Edinburgh, U.K. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ "New cabinet most egalitarian ever". Catalan News Agency. Barcelona, Spain. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  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. ^ Stothard, Michael (20 May 2018). "Rajoy wins opposition support to keep direct rule over Catalonia". Financial Times. London, U.K. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  22. ^ "Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy urges Catalonia to form 'viable' government". The New Indian Express. Chennai, India. Press Trust of India. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  23. ^ Day, Paul (20 May 2018). "Spain to maintain control of Catalonia - El Pais". Reuters. London, U.K. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  24. ^ "Torra proposes new nominations to overcome Spain's block on forming government". Catalan News Agency. Barcelona, Spain. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  25. ^ "Torra unblocks new Catalan government, replacing ministers in exile and prison with new names". El Nacional. Barcelona, Spain. EFE. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  26. ^ "El nou executiu tindrà 13 departaments" (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain: Generalitat de Catalunya. 29 May 2018. Archived from the original on 30 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  27. ^ "Torra sustituye a los cuatro consellers vetados para desbloquear el Govern". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  28. ^ "Torra nomena nou govern per superar el bloqueig". El Punt (in Catalan). Girona, Spain. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  29. ^ "Catalan government takes office in emotional event, lifting direct rule". Catalan News Agency. Barcelona, Spain. 2 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  30. ^ 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.
  31. ^ "Los consellers toman posesión y prometen "lealtad" a Quim Torra". eldiario.es (in Spanish). Europa Press. 2 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  32. ^ Wittenberg, Daniel (19 March 2019). "Catalan president promotes local mayor to prominent government spokesperson role". Catalan News Agency. Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  33. ^ "Càrrecs i Personal: Departament de la Presidència". Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya (in Catalan). No. 7838. Barcelona, Spain: Generalitat de Catalunya. 24 March 2019. ISSN 1988-298X. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  34. ^ "Junts comença a caminar sota el lideratge de Puigdemont però sense Mas ni el PDeCAT". 3/24 (in Catalan). Sant Joan Despí, Spain. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  35. ^ "Elsa Artadi, candidata alternativa de l'independentisme, de Harvard a ser la mà dreta de Puigdemont". Catalunya Diari (in Catalan). 12 February 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
edit