Leading Catalan pro-independence politician Jordi Turull was admitted to Bellvitge Hospital this Monday afternoon after suffering a heart attack. The general secretary of Together for Catalonia (Junts) had been holding meetings around Catalonia this morning in relation to his party work and was in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, near Barcelona, when he felt unwell. A catheterization was performed at the hospital, ElNacional.cat can report. He was later transferred to the Intensive Care Unit after the operation went well. Junts has reported that their general secretary is "stable beginning his recovery".
Turull, 57 years old, has been general secretary of Junts since June 2022. As one of the heads of the party, he, along with the president of the parliamentary group in Congress, Míriam Nogueras, leads the negotiations with the Spanish Socialists (PSOE) over Junts' on-going parliamentary support for the government of Pedro Sánchez and over the approval of the amnesty law.
After holding the position of Catalan presidency ministry in Carles Puigdemont's Catalan government from July to October 2017, Turull entered provisional prison in March 2018 for his role in the Catalan independence process, and in 2019 was tried, along with 12 other political and civil leaders of the independence process. Jordi Turull was sentenced to 12 years in prison and banned from holding office for the crimes of sedition and misuse of public funds, before being partially pardoned, along with the other eight leaders who were jailed, in June 2021. Turull was also a key negotiator in the negotiations with the PSOE that led to Junts's support for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez as Spanish PM in an agreement reached on October 30th last year.
Messages of support
The admission of Jordi Turull to the hospital has generated messages of support. One of the first was that of the leader of the Catalan Socialists (PSC), Salvador Illa. The head of the Catalan opposition conveyed to Junts "the wish for a speedy recovery of its general secretary" and expressed his support to his family. As well, the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, shared a message on X expressing his support for the general secretary of Junts. The Catalan president-in-exile, Carles Puigdemont, also conveyed "all affection and support" to Turull, as well as "the desire for a full recovery". In addition, he wanted to thank the "good people" who sent him messages of support when they heard the news.