Dr Ignacio Buqueras
Ignacio Buqueras, president of the Association for the Diffusion and Promotion of the World Heritage of Spain and full academician of the Royal European Academy of Doctors-Barcelona 1914 (RAED), presented on September 10 at the Catalan Circle of Madrid his last work: “Cataluña en Madrid. Una visión de Cataluña desde Madrid” (Catalonia in Madrid. A vision of Catalonia from Madrid), where he precisely includes his stage as president of the Catalan Circle and the columns he wrote in the newspaper “ABC” about the activity of the Catalans in the capital. The presentation was attended by Aldo Olcese, full academician and vicepresident of the RAED and president of the Spanish Independent Foundation; María José Rubio, director of the Bicentennial Society of General Prim, an initiative of Spanish Cultural Action, and Rafael Guardans, president of the Spanish Institutional Foundation (FIES), in addition to Buqueras himself. In Barcelona, the work will be presented at the Catalan labor Promotion of National Work, headquarters of the RAED, on October 15.
In the work, the academician brings his experiences and reflections for more than four decades of the five he has lived in Madrid, where he moved from his native Reus. In this period he served, for four years, the presidency of the Catalan Circle (1980-1984), published for five years the Sunday column of “ABC” (1983-1988), published a book on the history of the Catalan Circle with the same title which he now uses for his new work and his admiration for Josep Pla also led him to publish in 1985 an interesting biography about one of the reference authors of contemporary Catalan letters. Also, in this period he published a biography about Francesc Cambó to update the figure of one of the most attractive personalities of the 20th century. Both works were reissued in 2018.
Buqueras has actively promoted and participated in the events that, from Madrid, have been dedicated to two great Catalan personalities: Antoni Gaudí and general Prim, both of Reus as the author. The two were devoted a cycle of six round tables held in six emblematic places in Madrid, with moderators and speakers of outstanding relief. Each cycle was the edition of a book of great value. “With the book ‘Catalonia in Madrid. A vision of Catalonia from Madrid’ I wish to testify to what has been done through my comments based on several books that I have promoted and activities that I have promoted and lived”, says the academician in the prologue of this new work.
