Catalan Ombudswoman's areas of activity

Director of Cabinet and Communications Area 

Andreu Sagarra i Figueras holds a degree in Advertising and Public Relations from the Blanquerna Faculty of Communication Sciences and International Relations (Ramon Llull University).

He holds a Master's Degree in Institutional Relations, Events and Protocol - Events Management (2011) and completed the Management Development Programme at IESE (2018).

Between 2004 and 2007 he worked as an external relations and protocol technician at the Department of Economy and Finance of the Catalan Government, with regional ministers Francesc Homs i Ferret and Antoni Castells i Oliveres.

In 2007 he joined the Rectorate of the Ramon Llull University, where until 2011 he was head of the Protocol and Institutional Relations Office of the University director, Esther Giménez-Salinas i Colomer.

In 2011 he was appointed head of external relations and protocol in the Cabinet Office of the regional minister of the Department of Economy and Knowledge, Andreu Mas-Colell, until 2016.

In 2016 he joined the Department of Business and Knowledge as head of external relations and protocol under the regional minister Jordi Baiget Cantons.

Between 2018 and 2019 he worked at the Department of the Presidency of the Catalan Government as head of external relations and protocol with regional ministers Elsa Artadi i Vila and Meritxell Budó i Pla.

In 2019 he was appointed head of the President’s Cabinet of the Barcelona Bar Association under presidents Maria Eugènia Gay Rosell and later Jesús Sánchez García.

He has been a visiting professor in the Blanquerna-Atrevia Master's Degree in Integral Corporate Communication and at the University of Malaga.

Manager 

Mercè Perelló i Jané holds a Degree in Law from the University of Barcelona, a Postgraduate Degree in Public Administration and a Master's Degree in Public Law and Administrative Organisation from Pompeu Fabra University. She also holds a Diploma in Management Function in Public Administration from ESADE.

Between 2009 and May 2023, she was Deputy Director General of Administration and General Services at the Statistical Institute of Catalonia. Her functions included the supervision and coordination of the economic management and the budget, fostering human resources policies and administering resources, as well as managing legal services and information security.

In her previous experience, she has been responsible for monitoring the management of the Cabinet of the Minister of Economy of the Catalan Government (2001-2009); she has been a trainer at the School of Public Administration of Catalonia and at the Department of Economy and has also worked as a lawyer in the private sector (1989-1991).

At the Catalan Ombudsman's Office, she is in charge of human resources administration, administrative contracting, financial management, general and support services, personal data protection and information security. She is also director of the areas of public administration and rights, transparency and good governance, immigration, labour relations and pensions.