Carles Puigdemont was born in Amer (Selva), he is 61 years old. Catalan Philology Studies. He was a journalist, mayor of Girona and president of the Generalitat. He is an MEP. He is married and has two daughters.
He has said he will attend the investiture. And if there is no amnesty?
It is a fact that it will not take place, the calendar is marked. Before the end of May, the amnesty will be approved and come into force.
The first thing he will do when he returns?
I want to go to Parliament and be able to speak. After the private agenda, full of emotions, to go to my father’s grave and bring him a flower, we said goodbye via Skype. Go to Girona, the old town, the cathedral, Montilivi.
Has the documentation expired, will that be a problem?
I have other documents in order, the Belgian residence card, Belgian driving license…
Belgian driving license?
I had to re-examine myself.
And do you drive?
Yeah yeah. I like. It’s like cooking. It relaxes my brain.
These years, have you ever set foot on Spanish territory?
Technically yes, without suggesting it. No one knows this, it was for more than an hour. He was returning from Alghero and transshipped in Milan to Brussels. The tickets were from Alitalia, but they took us to the runways and the plane was from Iberia. I call my lawyer. He got nervous: “It’s Spanish territory, they can arrest you.” I spent the flight looking out the window at what vegetation there was. Nothing happened.
when was it
In July 2022, he returned with his family for a few days in Sardinia.
How has he handled the personal attacks in this time?
They are looking for you to bend, I was doing the opposite. I have very hard skin. I care exactly zero what they can say about me.
He lives in Vallespir, when will he move from Waterloo?
I hope after the investiture. It’s a big transfer.
What do you like to cook?
All things. At the weekend my wife and I had a noodle bite, but I’m in love with the sweet sausage. Spaghetti in Roquefort is good for me.
How does the day end at home?
First, take off my suit and tie. When I’m in Waterloo, the cat is waiting for me and I have to give it some affection.
He has a cat, what’s his name?
Ninu Then I try to be quiet. It is restorative. I have music as a reference, too, and several books always in sight.
Silence, music, what else?
Every day I talk to my daughters and my wife at that time, how school went, work, and that takes me, I won’t say bedtime, but I like the timetables in Belgium. If I can, I’m in bed at 10pm. I like to watch documentaries in Arte and some classic films in Filmin, preferably in black and white.
Sport, any exercise?
I should do it, and I have equipment at home, but it’s difficult for me, the bike, the elliptical, I’ve tried it with the tablet, but I get nervous.
Yoga, meditation?
I do yoga in Catalonia, which is badar, which is an active rest, similar to meditation.
Are you a believer?
Yes, I was brought up in a family of Christian values.
And practicing?
I’m very bad at practicing. But I try to talk little about it.
Trip?
Yes, and I read the Bible sometimes, but my life does not depend on it. help me I have spent seasons in the Poblet monastery, but I separate my beliefs from the public sphere.
Any saints or virgins to whom you have a special devotion?
I don’t have a personal icon, but two virgins at home. I gave a lecture at the University of Leuven and they paid me with a virgin. The other is that of Collell.
What memories do you have of Collell, where you studied as an intern?
very good I went there when I was nine and left before high school. You make friends who are your family, we still meet. You learn to resist. When I entered the prison in Germany, I thought “I’m back in Collell”. Actually the cell was better, with heating, double glazing, TV, hot water.
He was a journalist before a politician, what are his studies?
I feel like a journalist, but going to Barcelona to study was prohibitive and the offer at the university was limited. I signed up for Philology and did until second.
Why didn’t it finish?
He worked as a Catalan proofreader at El Punt. In January 1983 I had a very serious accident, I was out of work for four months, the trailer ran away and I had to pay for the car. I needed more work and they gave me double work: as a journalist and proofreader.
Is the hair from the accident?
It was said, but no. I have scars, but I like long hair. My grandmother used to tell me “with that hair you look like a beatle”. And I, very happy, was the group I liked. Look, I don’t have them that long anymore.
Advice from your advisers?
No, no. The hairdressing salon I went to was under construction and they looked for me in one of these modern barbershops that I didn’t notice and they had already taken the machine, they started cutting and I couldn’t stop.
Did he have Beatles posters?
No. From Cruyff and Neeskens.
Have you smoked marijuana?
Once, but I don’t know how to smoke, I don’t swallow smoke, and it had no effect and, of course, I had no interest.
What music does he like?
It depends on the moment, the company… I like Beethoven, something by Wagner, punk. Electronic music, rock, sardines, country. Also Joan Báez, John Denver, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, it depends.
He plays guitar, even had a band when he was young.
Luckily there were no cell phones and no evidence! We were 16-year-old boys, I was so bad at guitar that they put me on bass, but we had a great time.
Some madness for love?
I have no taste for it. I am sensitive, not romantic in classical terms. This is sometimes hard to understand. Man, maybe traveling to Romania alone, on those trains, is a bit of love madness, isn’t it?
How have these years been organized with your wife, the girls?
The credit goes to her, she has put everything on her shoulders so that the girls could live normally and travel, we had two houses. I am not only grateful, but in awe.
How is it defined?
I look in the mirror and see that boy from Amer, the same worries.
What is your life motto?
I remember that, those nights in the workshop of the pastry shop, my father and I discussed many things, for example Christianity, and in the end it all boils down to loving others as yourself. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes, because there is a part of reason and truth there.
