Joan Clos i Matheu, <small>GCIH</small> (; born 29 June 1949) is a Spanish politician who was mayor of Barcelona, Spain from September 1997 to September 2006. He took over from Pasqual Maragall in 1997. In 1999 he was elected to a four-year term, and was then re-elected in the municipal elections of 25 May 2003. In September 2006, he left Barcelona Town Hall, after nine years of office, as he was appointed Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. After a stint as the Spanish Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan, in 2010 he was appointed as executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, (UN-HABITAT), and Under Secretary General of the United Nations. Joan Clos is also president of the Spanish Chapter of The International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI).

Beginnings

He graduated from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB) with a degree in medicine and pursued his studies in the Sant Pau Hospital of Barcelona.

Scandals

On 4 February 2006, a local police was seriously injured during the eviction of an illegal party held in a squatted theatre owned by the Barcelona city council. The initial version of the events given by Joan Clos to the press described the policeman being hit in the head by a flower pot thrown from one of the windows of the theatre and suffering a vertebra fracture as a result. This version was later changed to fit the official version given by the police, two of whom were later found to have been tortured the detainees and to have fabricated evidence and lied in court in a different case.

Five young people were condemned to up to five years in prison solely based on the second version of these events. One of the condemned, poet Patricia Heras committed suicide during prison leave. These events were later described in detail in the award-winning documentary Ciutat morta.

Bibliography

Clos i Matheu, Joan. España, China e India: cooperación y oportunidades (Spain and China: cooperation and opportunities). In: Economía industrial. ISSN 0422-2784, Nº 362, 2006 (Volume dedicated to: China and India: opportunities and strategies), p.&nbsp;15-18.*(Spanish)

Clos i Matheu, Joan. Las crisis sanitarias vistas desde el Ayuntamiento (Public health crisis from the city hall viewpoint). In: Revista de administración sanitaria siglo XXI. ISSN 1696-1641, Vol. 4, Nº 3, 2006, p.&nbsp;407-409. *[https://archive.today/20130213094236/http://www.doyma.es/revistas/ctl_servlet?_f=7064&ip=193.203.200.2&articuloid=13094670&revistaid=261] (Spanish)]

Clos i Matheu, Joan. El Fòrum Universal de les Cultures, Barcelona 2004 (The Universal Forum of Cultures) Ed. Imatge i producció Editorial, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Barcelona, 2003.

Clos i Matheu, Joan. Convivència, seguretat i justícia a Barcelona : conferència de l'alcalde de Barcelona, Excm. Sr. Joan Clos. (Coexistence, security and justice in Barcelona: a conference by the Mayor of Barcelona, His Excellency M. Joan Clos) Ed. Fundació Carles Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, 2002.

Clos i Matheu, Joan. El conocimiento, eje vertebrador de la Barcelona del futuro (Knowledge, the vertebrating axis of Barcelona’s future). In: Papeles y memorias de la Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Políticas. ISSN 1576-2971, Nº 9, 2001 (Volume dedicated to: Innovation and technological development), p.&nbsp;198-213. *(Spanish)

Clos i Matheu, Joan. 20 anys d'ajuntaments democràtics (20 years of democratic city councils). in: Papers de la Fundació. ISSN 1138-4514, Nº 114, 1999.

Clos i Matheu, Joan. La Empresa Pública Local: La experiencia de Barcelona (Local public enterprise: the experience of Barcelona). In: Presupuesto y gasto público. ISSN 0210-5977, Nº 16, 1995, p.&nbsp;159-164.

Clos i Matheu, Joan; Seculi, Elisa; Segura, Andreu; preface by Ramon Espasa i Oliver. L'assitencia sanitaria a les comarques de Catalunya (Healthcare in the Catalan regions) Ed. Laia, Barcelona, 1980.

References

  • Royal Gold Medal (English)
  • La Barcelona de los barrios: un nuevo impulso (Spanish)