Skip to main content

Eduardo Zaplana Biography

Eduardo Zaplana

(Cartagena, 1956) Spanish politician.Eduardo Zaplana Hernández-Soro was born on April 3, 1956 in Cartagena (Murcia).His father, according to his biography, was an officer in the Navy and an industrialist who dismantled ships.His mother, who died when Eduardo was nine, was a homemaker.

He completed his first studies at the Maristas in Cartagena and from there he entered the Lope de Vega school in Benidorm as an intern, where he attended high school.The COU, however, carried it out in Las Palmas, where he lived with his older sister.Finally, he studied law at the universities of Valencia (1975-1979) and Alicante (1982-1984), where he obtained a degree.Later, he specialized in legal advice.

Eduardo Zaplana

Before graduating, things from destiny, in February 1980 he had already married Rosa Barceló, daughter of a well-known businessman tourist of the Costa del Sol, Miguel Barceló, who would be a senator of the Popular Party (PP) for Alicante.The couple has three children.

A meteoric career

Between 1977 and 1982 he participated in political life from the ranks of the Union of the Democratic Center (UCD).He was secretary general of the Youth of the UCD in Alicante and a member of the National Executive, as well as provincial secretary of the centrist organization in Alicante.In addition, during the term of President Adolfo Suárez, he was a member of the Technical Cabinet of the Ministry of Transport, Tourism and Communications.After the disintegration of the UCD, he devoted himself to professional practice as a lawyer, but maintaining contact with political movements of a liberal court.

During the process of re-founding the PP led by José María Aznar, he joined this party, from which in 1990 he was elected provincial president of Alicante.The meteoric political career of Eduardo Zaplana had as its starting point Benidorm, the city of which he was elected mayor in 1991, thanks to the vote of a defector, the socialist Maruja Sánchez, although he had already achieved the best result that the center-right had ever achieved in this constituency.In just three years of government he faced a dozen complaints, although all of them were shelved, such as the alleged illegal financing of the PP through urban planning commissions ("Naseiro case").During his tenure as mayor, he also served as elected spokesman for the PP Parliamentary Group in the Valencian Parliament during the third term.

On November 26, 1993 he was elected president of the PP of the Valencian Community.This designation would force him to resign as mayor of Benidorm in November 1994.As mayor and as a deputy, he championed the opposition to the decree of homologation of Catalan and Valencian in education.

On May 28, 1995, the PP won the regional elections, and Zaplana, after an agreement with the regionalists of the Valencian Union, was elected president of the Generalitat by the Valencian Cortes on June 30, 1995 , sworn in on July 4.He would reissue the position in the elections of June 13, 1999, this time with an absolute majority.

President of the Generalitat Valenciana

During his tenure as regional president, the agreement on the transfer of powers from the National Employment Institute (INEM) to the Valencian Community, the last sections of the Valencia-Madrid highway were inaugurated and an agreement was reached for the construction of the Madrid-Valencia AVE.But it is fair to highlight that, in addition to structural improvements, during his tenure he promoted innovative social policies, which became a benchmark for other communities, such as new models of hospital management or care for the elderly, as well as policies for the creation of job.

In the economic sphere, however, his adversaries blamed him for leaving many "leaks", such as a deficit public television, Radio Televisión Valenciana, especially due to the waste of Channel 9, which only in 2001, for example, generated losses of 133.7 million euros, or in that architectural jewel of Santiago Calatrava that is the City of Arts and Sciences, which also in 2001 accumulated a loss of 36.2 million euros.The great A part of Zaplana's heritage, the Terra Mítica theme park, not only has it failed to attract the number of visitors foreseen in the study that justified its construction, but also generated great losses.

During his tenure as Valencian president, Zaplana developed a frenzied foreign activity, with trips to Mexico, China, Japan, the United States, Morocco, Uruguay, Nicaragua, etc., and held numerous meetings and institutional events in Italy, Belgium, Wales, Finland and with European institutions.

Within the framework of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union, from September 1995 to 1998 he was president of the Committee on Transport and Communication Networks.From this position he promoted different studies on sustainable development and the adaptation of new communication channels to the protection of the environment.Between February 1998 and February 2000, he chaired the Commission for Regional Policy and Structural Funds, carrying out intense work for the elaboration of the so-called Agenda 2000.

Member of the National Executive of the PP, in September 1999 was elected for the third consecutive time president of the PP in the Valencian Community, always endorsed by Aznar, since, thanks to Zaplana, the PP has one of its private reserves in the Valencian Community.In addition, in 1999 he actively participated in national politics, especially with the preparation of the presentation "The Spain of opportunities", debated and approved at the XIII National Congress of the PP.

On February 16, 2000, he was elected a member of the Bureau of the Committee of the Regions, of which he would be elected first vice president on February 6, 2002, the year in which he presided over the XIV National Congress.

Minister of Labor

On July 9, 2002, Aznar was appointed Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, replacing Juan Carlos Aparicio, a position that he swore the next day.In early 2003, the ministry occupied by Zaplana announced that it had planned a law to change the calculation of pensions.The amount, at the time, according to the Toledo Pact, came from the average of the last fifteen years.Zaplana proposed that the calculation be made from the entire working life.

The unions immediately raised their voices, especially Cándido Méndez, general secretary of the General Union of Workers (UGT), who called acts of protest.In July, Zaplana announced that, if there was no agreement with the unions, he was willing to postpone the discussion of the reform until March 2004.Months later, he announced the increase in widow's pensions and some minimum pensions for 2004.

After being appointed Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Zaplana took possession of his seat as senator representing the Valencian Community, after being elected by the Cortes of this community.In addition, the Executive Committee of the PP of Motril (Granada) awarded him one of the Ingenio Awards, for "his great work of conciliation between the unions and the government", although some unionists accuse him of being soft in form but harsh in form.background.For its part, the Kingdom of Monastrell de Murcia wine brotherhood named him a brother of honor.

In July 2003 a storm broke out as a result of reports published by Abc according to which when he was president of the Generalitat, he used his influence on the concession of Aguas de Valencia, SA (AVSA) to force AVSA to become part of the Tabarka communication group, with which Zaplana would seek control of some media to face the advance of the Prisa and El Correo groups.On July 19, in an appearance before the media, Zaplana said: "Time will give and take away reasons." It should be remembered that, as president, he was awarded the @asLAN National Award for Innovation and Dissemination of Information Technologies.

At the beginning of September 2003, the appointment of Mariano Rajoy as PP candidate for the country's presidency prompted the seventh remodeling of the council of ministers of the government of José María Aznar (the fourth in the legislature).As a result of the changes, Eduardo Zaplana maintained the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and also assumed the spokesperson for the executive.

He has published the book The Success of Spain.The structuring of a plural nation , in which he expresses his vision of autonomous Spain and develops a proposal for autonomous financing based on fiscal co-responsibility, solidarity and financial sufficiency.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jose Risueño Biography

José Risueño (Granada, 1665- id ., 1732) Spanish sculptor and painter.Follower of A.Cano, P.de Mena and D.de Mora, he worked in Granada, where he made the figures of the chapel of the Sacrament of the Carthusian monastery, the San Juan de Dios of the church of San Matías and the Crucified Christ of Sacromonte.It is famous for its polychrome baked clay figurines ( Penitent Magdalene ).

Giovanni leone Biography

Giovanni Leone (Naples, 1908-Rome, 2001) Italian politician, President of the Republic from December 1971 to December 1978.He obtained a law degree in 1930 and a year later he graduated in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Camerino, where he was a student of Enrico de Nicola, future President of the Republic.In 1933, after obtaining a doctorate in both specialties, he began his teaching career, which throughout his life would alternate with politics and the practice of law from his Neapolitan law firm. He held the chair of Law at the universities of Camerino, Messina, Bari, Naples and Rome.He enrolled in the Christian Democracy (DC) in 1944, and in 1945 he was elected political secretary of the Neapolitan section.Likewise, with the end of the war he was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel of the military justice system.In 1946 he was elected deputy in the Constituent Assembly and was part of the "Commission of 75" that drew up the Constitution. Ag...

Jose Luis Lopez Vazquez Biography

José Luis López Vázquez (Madrid, 1922-2009) Spanish actor with a long professional career.Completely removed from the prototype of the gallant, he knew how to stay active decade after decade thanks to his interpretive wisdom, although he did not have many opportunities to prove his worth.In the 70s he participated in comedies of little value that took advantage of the open censorship and showed the sexual attitude of the Spanish with a crude humor; hence the typical image of an angry and gesticulating López Vázquez.He is one of the most lavish actors in the history of Spanish cinema: he worked almost uninterruptedly since 1953, often participating in several films a year, until he accumulated more than 220 titles that make up his filmography. José Luis López Vázquez José Luis López Vázquez entered the cinema as a costume designer and designed the costumes for some films, performing at the same time certain performances in the theater.His meeting with Luis Escobar, director of th...

Antoni Clavé Biography

Antoni Clavé (Barcelona, ​​1913-Saint Tropez, 2005) Spanish painter and sculptor.A disciple of the sculptor Ángel Ferrant and the painter José Mongrell, he began painting at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona and his foray into the professional field was produced through poster design, mainly cinematographic.Affiliated with the Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War, in January 1939 he went into exile to France, where he spent time in a refugee camp.He continued his pictorial activities, forming, together with a group of Spanish painters, the so-called School of Paris. In 1941 he set up his first Montparnasse studio.His emotional stability and the birth of his son gave rise to a series of intimate paintings, some of them tending towards abstraction.It did not take long for him to produce paintings with a marked expressionist and even cubist character, in which he systematically and especially dealt with the collage technique, from which the assemblages later derived. ...

Bruno Munari Biography

Bruno Munari (Milan, 1907- id ., 1998) Italian artist and designer.His investigations since the 1930s on the possibilities of movement and abstract forms have led him to an original expression within kinetic art.Since 1958 he has devoted himself, above all, to design (works for B.Danese).

Gino Severini Biography

Gino Severini (Cortona, 1883-Paris, 1966) Italian painter.After a period in Rome, where he frequented the studio of Giacomo Balla, from whom he learned the divisionist technique, in 1905 he went to Paris.He deepened into Divisionism with the study of Impressionism and Seurat's work, and in 1910 he joined Futurism.The influence of Cubism, already present in 1910, became more evident and personal in 1914.From 1923 on he dedicated himself mainly to making decorative panels and mosaics for private houses and churches, in an approach to the Italian Novecento.Towards the 1940s he returned to painting with a neo-Cubist roots and open to geometric abstraction.Also noteworthy are his essays From Cubism to Classicism (1921) and Reasoning about the figurative arts (1936). Gino Severini Born in Cortona, Gino Severini's vocation made him move to Rome in search of his fortune.There he became acquainted with Umberto Boccioni and frequented the studio of Giacomo Balla, but due to th...

The Council of Trent

Immersed in the spiritual chaos generated by the Lutheran Reformation , the Catholic Church was, at the beginning of the 16th century , at a crossroads. Catholic Confessional (Credit: Wikimedia Commons ) Different sectors, outside and inside the Church, demanded a reform within the same institution, to deal with the changes that were experienced in spiritual matters throughout Europe.counterattack, a Contrarreforma . Who could have imagined that it would be Pope Paulo III , elected in 1534, who would reform the Church? The same immensely rich pope who had built a sumptuous palace decorated by the Carracci with pagan allegories. However, since the time of the Council of Letran , Cardinal Farnesio had been gradually drawn to the idea of ​​reform.When he sat on the throne of St.Peter under the name of Paulo III , he immediately announced his intention to convene a council on June 2, 1536. More than 10 years had to pass before the council took place.During that d...

Iron maiden Biography

Iron Maiden British heavy metal band, one of the most prominent of the eighties, led by Steve Harris (1957).Created in 1975 by Steve Harris himself and guitarist Dave Murray in London's working-class East End neighborhood, it was named after a torture instrument from the Middle Ages ( Iron Maden , which means Iron Lady ). Iron Maiden After releasing an LP on an independent label, the group signed for the EMI label and released their first album in 1980, Iron Maiden , which quickly made it to the top ten of the UK charts.His next work, Killers (1981), revealed the potential of a band that soon after found a star in its new singer Bruce Dickinson (1958), who joined the group replacing Paul Di ' Anno.His contribution was essential to increase the strength of his live performances. The album released the following year, The number of the beast (1982), became a classic among heavy metal records. Run to the hills , the single from that album, is still one of the grou...

March ephemerides

The month of March according to the Gregorian calendar, is the third month of the year, composed of 31 days .Its name is derived from the Latin word Martius which in turn comes from Mars, Latin name of the planet Mars, which is also the god of struggle and battle, the god of war.But the reason for this article is not talk about the calendars and their origin but to know what relevant events took place in March, such as important births, decisive battles, discovery or foundation of cities, scientific discoveries, etc., in short, the Efemerides of the month of March. Article index Efemerides of the month of March | Efemerides March is a special month, is the month in which the great transformation of nature occurs, on 20/21, one of the two equinoxes of the year , which are the times when both day and night have the same duration. The equinox of March is that of spring for the northern hemisphere, while it will be autumn in the southern.Time when having more hours...

Gustav Stresemann Biography

Gustav Stresemann (Berlin, 1878-1929) German politician of the Interwar period.Belonging to a family of beer entrepreneurs, he had studied economics and came to chair the Federation of Industrialists of Saxony (1902). Gustav Stresemann Then he launched into politics, in the ranks of the National-Liberal Party (later called the Popular Party), a right-wing, nationalist and expansionist group that it took a long time to accept the republican and democratic regime established by the Weimar Constitution (1919) and the Versailles Peace Treaty (1918) from which the new regime had been born.He gradually moderated his positions and led the party (which he had led since 1917) to accept the clauses of the Treaty most harmful to Germany, as a way to regain understanding with the Western powers and thus relaunch the country's economic and political influence abroad. In 1923 Gustav Stresemann was called to preside as Chancellor of the "grand coalition" of government that soug...