Alfred Bosch takes office as Catalonia’s new foreign affairs minister today, pledging to make the country “known and renowned all across the world.” President Quim Torra appointed him as a member of his cabinet on Thursday, thus effectively substituting Ernest Maragall, who will, in turn, replace Bosch as the mayoral candidate in Barcelona for the Esquerra (ERC) party.

Mimicking Maragall’s inauguration last March, Bosch made clear that he considered himself a temporary substitute of Raül Romeva, the foreign minister incarcerated for organizing an independence referendum last year.

Bosch will hold a leading role in the bilateral meetings between the Catalan and Spanish governments, whose relationships have substantially deteriorated in recent weeks. Among other tasks, Bosch will also be in charge of opening new international offices, a project that has been challenged by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.