Throughout history, Catalonia has lived through all kinds of events. Our past, from the arrival of Greek civilization in Roses and Empúries, via the events of 1714 or the Renaixença, to the Civil War from 1936 to 1939, has been a succession of glorious acts, of conquering kings and of wars lost, of power and decline, of hard times and of prosperity.
In all these events, the Catalan people, their ideals and their institutions have been able to adapt, to learn from the past to face the future, the challenges of what is to come. The institution that I have the honor of presiding is the living example of this legacy that extends over the centuries.