Carles graduated in law with an ‘excellent’ grade from the Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona (1977) and he was awarded his PhD in Law cum laude from the same university (1989). His thesis was entitled Régimen del suelo no urbanizable (Green Belt Planning Policy).
He has specialised in administrative law since 1977 accumulating a wealth of professional experience providing legal advice, preparing studies and legal opinions, carrying out legislative projects, preparing spatial planning and urban management tools, as well as providing defence counsel in contentious legal proceedings.
He combines his professional role with academic activities, including both teaching and research. His academic career started at the Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona and later continued at Pompeu Fabra University where he was an associate teacher of administrative law until June 2015. He has published widely including monographs on administrative law, urban planning, local government, the environment and public regulation of economic activities, in addition to many articles and chapters of books. He is frequently invited to speak on courses and at seminars and conferences both in Spain and abroad, and he has taught on the Master’s in Regional Policy degree course at Carlos iii University in Madrid for the last 20 years. He was co-founder and head of the Postgraduate Diploma in Real Estate Law and Urban Planning and head of the Master’s in Land Law, Urban Planning and Environment degree at Pompeu Fabra University. He was a visiting researcher at the Stanford Law School (USA) from 1992-1993 and he taught at the Open University of Catalonia from 1997-1998.