On July 1st, the Fòrum Carlemany Gala was held at the Camiral Hotel of the PGA Catalunya Resort in Caldes de Malavella. The gala marked the handover of the presidency of the Fòrum Carlemany, with Francesc Bosch (Dibosch) leaving after four years, accompanied by Enric Paredes (Paredes Asociados) as vice president. Bosch passed the new presidency to Sandra Masoliver (Masoliver), who will be the Forum's first female president, with Joan Castell (Sarrats) as vice president.
More than 170 members of the association and other guests gathered after a year without being able to do so to celebrate its Annual Gala. The organization administered antigen tests to all attendees.
In 2020, the Forum was unable to hold the event due to the pandemic, but decided to allocate part of its budget to make a donation to the #joemcorono project. Likewise, despite the lack of a celebration, he presented recognition to that year's winners: Guillem Terribas of Librería 22 and Jordi Cuixart, president of Omnium Cultural. Both were mentioned at this year's Gala, where Guillem Terribas was present.
The ceremony began with the presentation of the annual awards: the Falcó Carlemany and the Honorary Member. The first was awarded to the Mas Casadevall Autismo Foundation in Serinyà for its work in caring for young people and adults with autism. The Honorary Member was named Dr. Bonaventura Clotet. The two awardees participated in a roundtable discussion moderated by journalist Xavi Coral.
Dr. Clotet emphasized that the greatest lesson we have learned from this pandemic is that collaboration in research has been much more important than usual, and solidarity has allowed for very rapid progress in the search for drugs.
Mr. Lluís Desoi, President of the Executive Committee of the Mas Casadevall Foundation, stated that the key to the foundation's success is that it is led by the families of its users, who seek the happiness and well-being of their loved ones. The pandemic has been a source of great anguish for the foundation.
As an exceptional year, this year's event dedicated part of the event to a health assessment with a roundtable discussion representing the Girona healthcare sector, including Dr. Josep Vilaplana, President of the Girona Medical Association; Ms. Silvia Bardalet, Vice President of the Girona Nursing Association; and Mr. Toni Maneu, Director of Human Resources at Hipra. They all explained the physical and emotional strain healthcare workers suffered during the pandemic when seeing patients alone and the importance of the exchange of knowledge within the scientific community to help make rapid progress. Dr. Vilaplana has called on Girona to invest in health and research as soon as possible.