Aznar, José María

Aznar, José María

▪ prime minister of Spain
in full  José María Aznar López 
born February 25, 1953, Madrid, Spain
 
 lawyer and politician who served as prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004.

      Aznar was born into a politically active, conservative family in Spain. His grandfather was a friend of dictator General Francisco Franco (Franco, Francisco), and both his father and grandfather held government jobs during Franco's regime.

      In 1975, during Spain's transition to democracy, José María received a law degree from the Complutensian University of Madrid, and he subsequently worked as a government tax inspector. He became active in the conservative Popular Alliance, and in 1982 he was elected to the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes (legislature). He served as the party's secretary-general in 1982–87 and was elected its vice president in 1989 and its president in 1991. By the end of the 1980s the party, which by then had changed its name to the Popular Party (PP), had moderated its platform and abandoned much of its Francoist legacy, adopting centre-right positions on most issues. Aznar was active in this transformation, recruiting women and young people to the party.

      In April 1995 Aznar was wounded in a car bombing that was attributed to the Basque separatist group ETA. In elections the following year, the PP benefited from the scandals and corruption plaguing the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, which had governed the country from 1982. Although the PP failed to win an outright majority, it was able to form a governing coalition with several small regional parties, and Aznar took office as prime minister on March 6. He appointed a cabinet with a wide range of views and emphasized economic reforms, including a reduction in government expenditures. During the following years there were steady improvements in the economy, though unemployment remained stubbornly high. Aznar also attempted to strengthen Spain's ties with Latin American countries and adopted a policy of refusing to negotiate with ETA. In September 1998 ETA announced a cease-fire but then broke it in January 2000 with a new wave of violence.

      In 2000 Aznar led the PP to an overall majority in the Congress of Deputies. terrorism—both ETA's continuing campaign of violence and the presence of Islamic terrorist cells in Spain—dominated his second term, particularly after the September 11 attacks of 2001. Aznar forged close ties with the United States in the global war on terrorism, and, despite the Spanish public's overwhelming opposition, he endorsed the U.S.- and U.K.-led attack on Iraq (Iraq War) that in 2003 ousted the government of Ṣaddām Ḥussein. Aznar also focused on improving the Spanish economy, which generally outperformed the economies of other European Union countries, and on diplomatic disputes with Morocco over the status of several Spanish-controlled areas and with the United Kingdom over its colonial possession of Gibraltar. Keeping his pledge to serve only two terms in office, Aznar retired as prime minister following the general elections of 2004.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Aznar, José María — b. 1953, Madrid    Politician    Despite coming from a political family, Aznar did not take part actively in politics until the age of twenty six, joining the Popular Alliance (Alianza Popular) after the general election of 1979. He was then… …   Encyclopedia of contemporary Spanish culture

  • Aznar, José María — ► (n. 1953) Político español. Fue presidente de la Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla y León en 1987 89 y presidente del Partido Popular (PP) en 1990 2004. Fue presidente del Gobierno en 1996 2004. En 2001 fue nombrado presidente de la Internacional… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • José María Aznar — Presidente del Gobierno de España …   Wikipedia Español

  • Jose Maria Aznar — José María Aznar Pour les articles homonymes, voir Aznar. José María Aznar …   Wikipédia en Français

  • José-Maria Aznar — José María Aznar Pour les articles homonymes, voir Aznar. José María Aznar …   Wikipédia en Français

  • José Maria Aznar — José María Aznar Pour les articles homonymes, voir Aznar. José María Aznar …   Wikipédia en Français

  • José María Alfredo Aznar López — José María Aznar Pour les articles homonymes, voir Aznar. José María Aznar …   Wikipédia en Français

  • José María Aznar López — José María Aznar Pour les articles homonymes, voir Aznar. José María Aznar …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jose Maria Aznar — José María Aznar López (* 25. Februar 1953 in Madrid) ist ein spanischer Politiker (PP) und war von 1996 bis 2004 Ministerpräsident (Presidente del Gobierno) Spaniens. José María Aznar am 17. März 2003 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jose Maria Aznar Lopez — José María Aznar López (* 25. Februar 1953 in Madrid) ist ein spanischer Politiker (PP) und war von 1996 bis 2004 Ministerpräsident (Presidente del Gobierno) Spaniens. José María Aznar am 17. März 2003 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”