In 1986, the President of Generalitat de Catalunya, Mr. Jordi Pujol, and the Governor of California, Mr. Edmund G. Brown, expressed their wish to push forward a sister-state agreement between the two regions.
The decision was taken by the Legislative Committee of the Senate of California (resolution 3020 for a California-Catalonia Sister State relationship, on July 15, 1986) and was officially announced to President Pujol by the Honorable Senator Mr. Henry J. Mello.
In this resolution, the Senate of California expressed the reasons and considerations by which “it recognizes that California honors and celebrates Father Serra and Gaspar de Portolà’s contribution to the Spanish and Catalan history and culture of California. It resolves to invite Catalonia to become a sister state of California in order to promote artistic, academic and cultural exchanges that may lead to an indelible friendship and a enduring association between California and the people of Catalonia”.
The Parliament of Catalonia, in return to the importance of this document, unanimously agreed under the same terms to accept the proposal.