The Josep Irla Foundation has awarded the Esquerra leader for his book “Ubuntu. The Civic and Global Republic,” in which he analyses the role that Catalan republicanism must play from the pandemic and the current crisis onward

Raül Romeva, a former minister and a member of Esquerra’s leadership has been rewarded for his work as an author. The Josep Irla Foundation has awarded Romeva the Irla 2020 Prize for Essays for his Ubuntu. La República cívica i global—Ubuntu. The civic and global Republic. The Foundation reports that the jury decided to award “his proposal addressing the management of the political complexity of global challenges through collective awareness and from the concept of the commons.”


In his essay, Mr Romeva defines the strategic course for the construction of a civic Catalan Republic, with a broad outlook and commitment to the world. In fact, the work could not be more insightful and opportune. At a time when the world’s future is at stake, the author analyses the role that Catalan republicanism must play in the face of the great problems that hold the world in check today, such as the Covid-19 health crisis, the climate crisis, the authoritarian shift of certain governments, or the apathy before sexist violence, all in all, republican values for citizens to gain global awareness.


The prize is €6,000 and the publication of the work with Angle Editorial. The jury members were Montserrat Duch, a professor of contemporary history at the Rovira i Virgili University–URV, Tarragona; Rosa Rey, the director of Angle Editorial; Cristina Sànchez Miret, a professor of sociology at the University of Girona–UdG; Judit Vall, a professor of economics at the University of Barcelona–UB; and Francesc Viadel, a professor of communication at the Blanquerna Ramon Llull University–URL, Barcelona.

Congratulations for Mr Romeva, who is still unjustly jailed at Lledoners prison, have not been long in coming on social media, from such personalities as the Member of the Catalan Parliament and Esquerra’s Deputy Secretary General for Women, Ms Raquel Sans. These can be found and shared via the hashtag #AssaigIrla.