Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat, Catalonia’s autonomous government, has replaced Social Rights Minister Mònica Martínez Bravo with Raúl Moreno, the department’s secretary general. The change was announced on Monday 20 July and Moreno is expected to take part in the Consell Executiu, the Catalan government’s executive council, on Tuesday.

For residents who use social-care and child-protection services, the handover places Moreno in charge of reforms including the reorganisation of Catalonia’s child-protection system. Martínez Bravo’s departure is the first reshuffle of Illa’s government since the legislature began, according to El País.

The Generalitat said Martínez Bravo was leaving for personal reasons. El Periódico first reported that she had told Illa two weeks earlier that she wanted to leave the executive.

“She has successfully tackled the redesign of our social protection system as a fundamental pillar of the welfare state,” Illa said of Martínez Bravo.

Moreno takes over as reforms continue

Moreno, a social educator born in Santa Coloma de Gramenet in 1978, served as a deputy in the Parliament of Catalonia between 2015 and 2024. After Illa became president, he took up the post of secretary general at the Department of Social Rights and Inclusion.

His appointment is due to take effect within hours of Monday’s announcement. He replaces Martínez Bravo after almost two years in the post, which she took up in August 2024 after working as secretary general for Inclusion at Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.

Child protection and dependency waiting times

During her time in office, Martínez Bravo promoted the Plan Cura, aimed at reducing waiting times for dependency support, and led the reorganisation of the child-protection system after the former Direcció General d’Atenció a la Infància i l’Adolescència, known as DGAIA, was removed.

The reforms include a new system for preventing and protecting children and adolescents, which Martínez Bravo was scheduled to present on 26 May 2025, according to a Generalitat notice.

  • Martínez Bravo leaves the Department of Social Rights and Inclusion for personal reasons.
  • Moreno, formerly the department’s secretary general, will succeed her.
  • He is scheduled to attend the Consell Executiu meeting on Tuesday 21 July.

The immediate next formal step is Moreno’s participation in Tuesday’s executive council meeting, where he will join the Generalitat as the new minister responsible for social rights.

Primary sources: govern.cat. Reported by Source Text Link, elpais.com, Luis B. García, Sara González, Vicenç Pagès, vilaweb.cat, elmundo.es, Marta Rodríguez Carrera, Nura Portella, lavanguardia.com, Europa Press, en.wikipedia.org, socialistes.cat, El Confidencial.