Politician, lawyer and cultural activist Josep Espar Tico He died this Saturday at the age of 94, as confirmed through Twitter by the Fundació Congrés de Cultura Catalana, an entity of which he was a life patron. Ticó, born in Barcelona in 1927, fHe was one of the founders of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia and received the Barcelona Medal of Honor, the Creu de Sant Jordi, in 1984, and the Canigó Prize, in 2020. He also participated in the creation of the ‘Avui’ newspaper, the ‘Cavall Fort’ magazine, the Catalan book distributor L’Arc de Berà, the Universal Foundation of the Sardana and the Edigsa record company, founded in the central Barcelona fur shop owned by his family, Siberia. In fact, he was at the forefront of many initiatives aimed at the political and cultural normalization of the country.
His involvement in the Fets of the Palau of Music, in the sixties, which ended with the arrest of Jordi Pujol. Coinciding with Franco’s visit to the Domènech y Montaner auditorium, Espar Ticó was the first of a group of young Catalanists to rise up and sing ‘Cant de la Senyera’. It also highlights his role in the Galinsoga affair that managed to remove the director of ‘La Vanguardia’ imposed by the Franco regime.
He also took part in the ‘Volem bisbes catalans’ campaign and in the Congrés de Cultura Catalana, of which he was manager (1975-1977) and member of its board of trustees. From 1984 to 1986 he was general secretary of the Second International Congress of the Catalan Language and candidate for senator for CiU in 1979, but was not elected.
In 1984 he received the Creu de Sant Jordi from the Generalitat de Catalunya in recognition of his commitment to the country and Catalan politics, and in 2020 the Universitat Catalana d’Estiu awarded him the Canigó Prize, its highest honor. One of his last endeavors was the Third Congrés Catalanista 2008-2009.
Espar Ticó published the books Amb C of Catalonia. Memories of a conversion to Catalanism (1936-1963) (1994), Morale of victory. Walks through the fullness of Catalonia (nineteen ninety six), Catalonia sense limits. Memories, 1963-1996 (2001), Little history of Catalonia (2002), The stops to the history of Catalonia (2003) and Em Dec Catalunya and vull introduce myself (2005).
In an interview with this newspaper, Espar Ticó explained that his character came from his father: “When in 1936 they were going to kill him redssaid: ‘I take the rosaries and put them in my hand'”. Orphaned, Espar Ticó fled to San Sebastián with his mother and brothers. From these origins, he defined himself as a “convert” to Catalan nationalism.
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In that same interview, he recalled how in the Fets del Palau he resisted being arrested thanks to his corpulence and managed to flee and hide for two months in Montserrat. «Because I am strong, I got rid of the cops with my fist. And, when I had my feet on Via Laietana, I couldn’t believe it».
Defined as an independentista, in 2017 he insisted to Puigdemont not to declare independence but to call elections, and considered the attitude of the ‘president’ a “mistake”. In subsequent statements, he maintained that the independence movement should not “propose anything seriously” until it reaches the support of 60% of Catalans.