Josep Grau Serís died on Tuesday night at the age of 80. The news was announced on Wednesday by the City Council of Mollerussa, the town he served as mayor for three consecutive terms between 1987 and 1999. Born in the capital of Pla d’Urgell on 8 November 1945, Grau was for decades a central figure in the institutional politics of Lleida: mayor, president of the Provincial Council, agriculture minister, member of the Spanish Congress and the Catalan Parliament, and president of the Catalan Association of Municipalities.

The municipal corporation, led by Mayor Marc Solsona, expressed its “deep sorrow” and publicly thanked “Josep Grau’s years of dedication to the town”. The statement highlights that Grau’s three terms coincided with a period of transformation in Mollerussa: in 1988 the comarca of Pla d’Urgell was officially created, with the town as its capital, and during his tenure residential and industrial sectors were developed, the urban fabric was modernised, and the Mollerussa Fair and the San José Fair were strengthened.

From CDC councillor to CiU mayor

Grau began his political career in 1983, when he was elected councillor for Mollerussa Town Council for Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya. Four years later, after the 1987 municipal elections, he became mayor, a position he renewed in 1991 and 1995 at the head of Convergència i Unió candidatures. His local career was marked by a firm commitment to the urban and economic growth of the town, as well as to consolidating its role as comarcal capital.

Alongside his municipal work, Grau presided over the Provincial Council of Lleida between 1990 and 1999. For nine years, from the provincial institution, he articulated infrastructure and service policies for a territory undergoing significant change. His management at the Provincial Council made him one of the most visible faces of Lleida politics throughout the 1990s.

Agriculture minister in the Catalan government

In 1999 he left the mayor’s office and the presidency of the Provincial Council to move into autonomous politics. That same year he was elected deputy in the Parliament of Catalonia and was subsequently appointed Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Catalan Government, a post he held until 2003 under the presidency of Jordi Pujol. During his time at the head of the department, Grau had to deal with complex episodes for the primary sector, such as African swine fever —which forced the culling of more than 50,000 pigs on affected farms— and the crisis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease.

Unió de Pagesos remembered Grau as a “driver of modernisation in the agriculture department”, pointing to the updating of county offices and his efforts to compensate farmers affected by those health crises. The current Minister of Agriculture, Òscar Ordeig, conveyed his condolences to the family and highlighted Grau’s commitment to public service, the rural world and agriculture.

Institutional condolences

Alongside tributes from the agricultural sector and the Catalan government, other institutions added their recognition. The Government Sub-delegate in Lleida, José Crespín, described Grau on social media as “a man passionate about politics, of great drive and deeply linked to the Lands of Lleida”. Jordi Turull, secretary general of Junts, emphasised “his great affection for the agricultural world, for the lands of Lleida and for Catalonia”.

The death of Josep Grau closes a chapter in Lleida politics. For more than two decades he was present in the main institutional arenas: municipal, provincial, autonomous and state. His legacy, especially in Mollerussa and in the rural world, will be debated in the coming days. What is certain is that few careers have so continuously run through the administrations that shape daily life in the province of Lleida.