The good times have returned for the Generalitat and it does not seem that there are economic problems. At least, that is the impression that emerges after analyzing the institutional trip that the president of the Generalitat of Catalonia carried out in September to New York (United States). Five days. Two conferences. 21 people. More than 127,000 euros. Pere Aragonès traveled to New York between September 17 and 21, mainly to participate in Climate Week (2022). For this purpose, the regional president surrounded himself with a retinue of 20 people, including the Minister for Climate Action, Food and the Rural Agenda, Teresa Jordà, also from ERC. Jordà did not participate in any event – nor did the rest of the senior officials – and she limited herself to accompanying Aragonès.
In just five days, the Generalitat spent 127,296.16 euros on a trip for 21 people with the justification that Aragonès intervened in the international forum on climate, which consists of a series of conferences in which companies, organizations and governments of different levels participate to deal with the climate emergency. In addition, the regional president participated in the general assembly of Under2Coalition, made up of a group of subnational governments linked to Climate Week.
The delegation that accompanied the President of the Generalitat circumscribed to his department was made up of ten people. Three escorts and seven members of the Catalan Government: Sergi Sabrià, director of the Strategic and Communication Office; Miquel Royo, international policy advisor; Marta Alcolea, Head of Press; Iu Andrés, international press advisor; Clara Lobo, assistant to the head of the Cabinet for External Relations and Protocol; Raquel Serra, Assistant to the Chief of the Cabinet for External Relations and Protocol; and Arnau Carbonell, official photographer of the regional president.
To these were added those who traveled in charge of the department of Jordà. Nine senior officials: David Mascort, Secretary General of the Ministry; Anna Barnadas, Secretary of Climate Action; Carmel Mòdol, Secretary of Food; Marc Sanglas, General Director of Environmental Quality and Climate Change; Jordi Aranda, head of the Minister’s Cabinet; Maties Ramos, Head of Communication; Mar Vila, head of External Relations and Protocol; Susanna Rivero, head of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation at the Climate Action Secretariat; and Sílvia Pujol, from the Office of External Relations and Protocol.
filler acts
Regarding the breakdown of public money spending, according to a written response from Jordà herself to a parliamentary question from Vox, consulted by ABC, the entourage of 21 people allocated 52,503.57 euros in three hotels (Hilton Midtown, Hotel Riu Plaza Manhattan Times Square and The Churchill Hotel), 43,091.47 euros for plane tickets (on Delta Airlines and Iberia, all in “economy class”), 23,173.67 euros for chauffeured transportation , 6,858.39 euros in “expenses related to maintenance, urban transport and minor expenses”, without further specification, 1,200 euros in the translation service and 469.06 euros in trains.
In the official agenda of those five days of September only acts of Aragonès appear. None of those who accompanied him held a meeting or a meeting in any forum related to climate change. The President of the Generalitat, in addition to attending the two aforementioned events, met with three experts on climate issues, one awarded by the Generalitat and the management of ‘The Wall Street Journal’. In addition, he visited the Oracle headquarters (in Washington) and was present at an event to promote Catalan products organized by the Generalitat itself.
