Catalan Ombudswoman's areas of activity
Director of Cabinet
Xavier Miret i Corretgé is the Cabinet Director of the Catalan Ombudsman since 29 December 2023.
He holds a degree in Protocol and Event Organisation (Universidad Europea) and is a Senior Technician in Protocol and Institutional Relations (Escuela Internacional de Protocolo).
From 2003 to 2016, he worked as an institutional relations and protocol technician in the Cabinet of the Department of Social Welfare and Families of the Catalan Government, with councillors Anna Simó, Carme Figueras, Carme Capdevila and Josep Lluís Cleries.
From 2016 to 2018, he was head of the Cabinet for External Relations and Protocol of the Department of the Presidency of the Catalan Government, with councillors Neus Munté and Jordi Turull.
From 2018 to 2021, he was head of the Cabinet for External Relations and Protocol of the Department of Digital Policies and Public Administration of the Catalan Government with councillor Jordi Puigneró.
From April 2021 to October 2022, he was head of the Cabinet for External Relations and Protocol of the Department of the Vice-Presidency, Digital Policies and Territory of the Catalan Government with the vice-president and councillor Jordi Puigneró.
From October 2022 to June 2023, he was the head of the Cabinet for External Relations and Protocol of the Department of Economy and Industry of the Catalan Government with councillor Natàlia Mas.
Prior to this, he worked as a social educator and coordinator of the Sant Roc multipurpose civic centre of the Catalan Government in the Sant Roc district of Badalona (1996-2003). He has also provided training in institutional relations and communication skills to senior and elected officials in various public institutions.
Contact details
Telephone: 933 018 075
E-mail: dirgabinet@sindic.cat
Manager
Mercè Perelló i Jané is the manager of the Catalan Ombudsman since 2023. She is responsible for human resources management, administrative contracts, financial management, general and support services, personal data protection and information security. She was also director of the areas of public administration and rights, transparency and good governance, immigration, labour relations and pensions.
She 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 Business and Law School.
Between 2009 and May 2023, she was Deputy Director General of Administration and General Services at the Statistical Institute of Catalonia. Her responsibilities included the supervision and coordination of the economic and budgetary management, the promotion of human resources policies and resource management, as well as the management of legal services and information security.
Previously, she was responsible for supervising the management of the Cabinet of the Department of Economy of the Catalan Government (2001-2009); she has taught at the School of Public Administration of Catalonia and at the Department of Economy of the Catalan Government and has also worked as a lawyer in the private sector (1989-1991).
Contact details
Telephone: 933 018 075
E-mail: gerencia@sindic.cat
Appointment of Mercè Perelló i Jané as manager of the Catalan Ombudsman
Director of social rights
Jordi Sànchez i Picanyol is Director of Social Rights at the Catalan Ombudsman since 29 May 2023. From 2010 to 2015 he was the institution’s Deputy General.
He holds a degree in Political Science and Sociology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and a master's degree in Political Science from the same university.
From 1996 to 2010 he directed the Jaume Bofill Foundation, which focuses on research in the field of social sciences, particularly in the areas of education, democratic participation, social inequalities and immigration. He has participated in several research projects and has edited a book series with over fifty publications in these areas.
In 2004, he was the coordinator of the public education service sector of the National Education Pact, signed by the main parties, associations and movements of the education community. He also coordinated and drafted part of the first National Immigration Pact (2008).
In 2015 he became president of the Catalan National Assembly; in 2017 he was imprisoned for the independence referendum of 1 October 2017 and in 2019 he was sentenced to nine years in prison and disqualified for sedition. He regained his freedom in June 2021, when he was pardoned, and in April 2022 the disqualification expired as the crime of sedition disappeared from the Spanish Penal Code.
Between 2020 and 2022, he was secretary general of the Junts per Catalunya political party.
Professor at the UAB, at the University of Barcelona and at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, he is author of several academic publications and has contributed to monographs on political science, civic participation and the welfare state. He has received a fellowship from the German Marshall Fund, an institution whose main objective is to strengthen the links of knowledge and exchange between European and North American societies. He has also participated in programmes for international visitors to the United States.
He is a member of several advisory councils and boards of directors of various non-profit cultural organisations.
Contact details
Telephone: 935 538 451
E-mail: dretssocials@sindic.cat
