Xavier Puigdemont, father of exiled Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, has passed away in Catalonia at the age of 91, his son has announced in a tweet from Belgium.
"A short time ago our father left us. My mother, my sisters and my brothers will always remember him as a man of immense kindness and fidelity to the basic values of Christianity. Rest in peace."
The elder Puigdemont worked in a family bakery in the town of Amer, in the north of Catalonia, until shortly before he died. He married Núria Casamajó with whom he had eight children. Carles, their second, was born in 1962.
Just last week, in an interview with the British newspaper The Times, Puigdemont said that he doubted he would see his parents again, as he is living in exile in Belgium and his parents were too elderly to travel. After the announcement, the president cancelled his scheduled participation via videolink in a JxCat election rally in Girona.
Within minutes of the news, a wide range of public figures had expressed their sympathy. President Quim Torra telephoned his predecessor to express his sympathy directly; he plans to attend the funeral in the next few days.
Torra: "Dear president Carles Puigdemont, our sadness at the death of your father is made deeper by the injustice of your exile and the forced distance. Our sympathy with the embrace of a whole people which loves you. Rest in peace."
Speaker of the Catalan Parliament Roger Torrent: "A strong embrace and all our support, president. Our sympathy to the whole family."
Vice-president Pere Aragonès: "A strong embrace, president. My deepest condolences to the whole family. Great strength at such a difficult time."
Prisoner and former president of ANC Jordi Sànchez: "Dear Carles, president and friend, it's very difficult to imagine this moment. It's what we'll find hard to pardon those who have separated us from our friends and family for. Some day all this suffering will end. May his good memory be with you and your whole family."
Prisoner and former vice-president Oriol Junqueras: "My sympathy at such a hard time, Carles! An embrace! Such injustice that a son cannot say goodbye to his father!"
Prisoner and former speaker of the Catalan Parliament Carme Forcadell: "An immense embrace, president. It's an enormous injustice to suffer through these moments far from your family. All my support."
Exile and former education minister Clara Ponsatí: "RIP, a strong embrace, Carles and the whole Puigdemont family."
Member of the German Bundestag Żaklin Nastic (Die Linke): "My heartfelt condolences and deep sympathy for the difficult loss, Carles. That you and your father, through years of political persecution, should have been denied even [the chance to say] goodbye is especially tragic."