Joe Brugada honoured with prestigious Catalan award for heritage and advocacy
Local historian, activist and champion of the deaf community, Joe Brugada, has been awarded the distinguished XXXVI Josep Maria Batista i Roca Award – Enric Garriga Trullols Memorial by the Institut de Projecció Exterior de la Cultura Catalana (IPECC).
This honour recognises his lifelong dedication to promoting Catalan language and culture beyond the Catalan countries, as well as his contributions to Gibraltar’s heritage.
Mr Brugada, born in 1939, is the elder son of Pepe ‘El Catalán’ Brugada, who arrived in Gibraltar in 1931.
In 1975 due to challenges faced following the birth of his hearing-impaired daughter he moved to the UK and worked in the private sector before retiring to Gibraltar in 2000.
Since his return, he has tirelessly campaigned for the rights of the deaf community, lobbying for British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters and for BSL to be recognised as an official language in Gibraltar. He earned the Governor’s Award for Services to the Hearing Impaired in 2014.
Among his most notable achievements is his role as the architect of the Gibraltar National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) War Memorial. Inspired by a visit to the UK’s National Memorial Arboretum in 2014, he worked to establish a memorial dedicated to Gibraltarians who gave their lives in the World Wars.
With the support of Gibraltar’s government and military, the memorial was unveiled in 2015.
His connection to his Catalan heritage has deepened in recent years through his friendship with Catalan journalist Martí Crespo, who traced Mr Brugada’s lineage in Barcelona. Mr Brugada’s work highlighting the Catalan naval contribution to Gibraltar’s capture in 1704 and his efforts to restore the IPECC’s commemorative plaque in Catalan Bay further cemented his ties to Catalonia.
The original plaque, presented during National Day celebrations in 2016, had gone missing. He spearheaded the creation of a replica, which was unveiled in 2024 and now overlooks the historic landing site of Catalan troops in 1704.
Mr Brugada’s award recognises this and the announcement from IPECC praised his dedication to fostering Gibraltar’s links with Catalonia and preserving the shared heritage of the two regions.
The award ceremony is set to take place later this year, and Mr Crespo will formally receive Mr Brugada’s award on his behalf.