Jéssica Albiach Satorres (born 29 May 1979)[1] is a Spanish journalist and politician. A member of Catalunya en Comú and formerly Podemos, she was elected to the Parliament of Catalonia in 2015. She has also led the En Comú Podem and Comuns Sumar coalitions.

Jéssica Albiach
Jéssica Albiach in 2019.
Member of the Parliament of Catalonia
Assumed office
25 October 2015
ConstituencyBarcelona
Personal details
Born
Jéssica Albiach Satorres

(1979-05-29) 29 May 1979 (age 44)
Valencia, Spain
Political partyCatalunya en Comú (2017–present)
Other political
affiliations
Podemos (2014–2023)
ResidenceBarcelona
Alma materCEU Cardinal Herrera University
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • politician
  • photographer

Early life and education edit

Jéssica Albiach was born in Valencia. She studied journalism at CEU Cardinal Herrera University. Albiach had a six-month Erasmus stint at KU Leuven in Belgium. Soon after, she studied photography and took a course in Anthropology at the National University of Distance Education, which she did not finish. She moved to Prague to dedicate herself to photography, and on returning, she taught the Catalan language to immigrants for Caritas Internationalis.[2]

Career edit

In October 2015, shortly after being elected to the Parliament of Catalonia, Albiach was chosen as one of two spokespeople for En Comú Podem ahead of national elections in December.[3]

In September 2018, after the exit of Xavier Domènech, Albiach was elected as En Comú Podem's leader in the Catalan parliament.[4] On 27 February 2020, she received the backing of mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau to lead the party in the 2021 Catalan election.[5]

Political views edit

Albiach has criticised unilateral measures by the Catalan independence movement, such as the 2017 independence referendum, as being counter-productive for the movement.[6] She proposes a regulated referendum as the solution to the debate.[7]

In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, Albiach supported the removal of the Monument to Christopher Columbus in Barcelona, saying that "we have nothing to celebrate on 12 October (Spain's national day, based on the date of Columbus's arrival in the Americas)".[8]

In the 2021 regional election campaign, Albiach proposed further devolution of power to Catalonia, including in the sectors of housing, railways, immigration, and dialogue with the European Union.[7]

References edit

  1. ^ "Jéssica Albiach". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 21 November 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  2. ^ Hinojosa, Silvia (9 February 2019). "Jéssica Albiach, la diputada que perseguía tortugas" [Jéssica Albiach, the deputy who followed tortoises]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  3. ^ Pérez Colomé, Jordi (10 October 2015). "Podem crea una dirección colegiada sin grandes figuras de cara al 20D" [Podem creates an executive without big names with an eye to 20 December]. El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  4. ^ "El grupo de los comuns nombra a Jèssica Albiach presidenta del grupo en el Parlament" [En Comú name Jéssica Albiach group leader in the Catalan parliament] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Colau ya tiene candidata para la Generalitat" [Colau already has a candidate for regional president] (in Spanish). Economía Digital. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  6. ^ Cortázar, Ander (16 December 2017). "Jessica Albiach, número tres de Catalunya En Comú Podem" [Jéssica Albiach, Catalunya En Comú Podem's number three]. El Boletín (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  7. ^ a b Gil Grande, Rocío (12 February 2021). "Diálogo, referéndum, DUI o federalismo: ¿Qué modelo territorial propone cada partido este 14F?" [Dialogue, referendum, unilateral declaration of independence or federalism: What territorial model is each party proposing this 14 February?] (in Spanish). RTVE. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  8. ^ Bassas, Antoni (13 June 2020). "Jéssica Albiach: "Desmuntar l'estàtua de Colom seria una bona mesura"" [Jéssica Albiach: "Taking down the statue of Columbus would be a good idea"]. Ara (in Catalan). Retrieved 8 February 2021.