Núria Casamajó Ruiz, mother of the Catalan president-in-exile, Carles Puigdemont, died this morning at the Josep Trueta Hospital in Girona. The news of the death was communicated by Puigdemont himself, who recently moved his residence to Vallespir, in French-governed Northern Catalonia, and plans to return from exile in the coming weeks. Puigdemont's father, Xavier Puigdemont Oliveres, died on November 6th, 2019, when the former president had already been in exile in Belgium for two years.
"This morning, my mother, Núria Casamajó i Ruiz, died. All my siblings were able to be by her side until the end, and she had all the warmth and excellent humane and professional treatment of the staff at the Trueta and Girona hospitals. She has left too soon; at the same time, the hand of my daughter was also mine and in that way I was present. She had a full life, and she has left without suffering. May she rest in peace," wrote Puigdemont in a post on the X network.
The death of Puigdemont's mother has occurred when the president is amid the Catalan election campaign as a candidate for the presidency of the Generalitat for his party Together for Catalonia (Junts), having already announced that he intends to return from exile for the investiture vote for the next Catalan president, six and a half years after his departure from Catalonia. Junts has this Monday suspended the candidate's campaign agenda, which is concentrated in Argelers, in French-governed Northern Catalonia, where he is holding all campaign meetings and press conferences.
Núria Casamajó married Xavier Puigdemont and the couple had eight children, Francesc, Carles, Anna, Enric, Joaquim, Josep, Dolors and Montse. She had roots in the Andalusian town of La Carolina and, as El Punt Avui published, she lost her mother and siblings during the Civil War, probably from tuberculosis, and her father disappeared in exile in France. Núria Casamajó worked with her husband in the family business that he inherited and which ended up becoming a pastry shop.
The reactions to the death of Núria Casamajó on social media have been numerous, among them, that of the current Catalan president, Pere Aragonès.
"All my condolences and support to president Puigdemont and the whole family. At these difficult times, once again, the repression and exile show one of their cruelest faces. All my support," said Pere Aragonès.