Alejandro Fernández (politician)

Alejandro Fernández Álvarez (born 30 May 1976)[1] is a Spanish politician and political scientist who has been the leader of the People's Party of Catalonia since 2018.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Fernández and the second or maternal family name is Álvarez.

Early life

Born in Tarragona to a lorry driver father and domestic worker mother, Fernández graduated in Political Science and Administration at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.[1] He was a professor at Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona, and in 2013 campaigned for it to be renamed "Tarragona University" instead of after the Catalan republican Antoni Rovira i Virgili.[2]

Political career

He joined the youth division of the People's Party at 14 and was a city councillor in Tarragona for 13 years from 2003, leading the party in the city from 2008. In 2011 he was elected to the Congress of Deputies, leaving in 2015 when elected to the Parliament of Catalonia.[1]

During his 2011 mayoral campaign, Fernández recorded a jingle to the tune of Lady Gaga's "Alejandro". It was withdrawn after legal threats from Sony/ATV Music Publishing.[3]

In November 2018, he succeeded Xavier García Albiol as party leader upon the latter's resignation, with 97.1% of the votes.[4]

In his campaign for the 2021 Catalan election, Fernández proposed ending Catalonia's separate police and judicial system, ending the region's public-private diplomacy consortium DiploCat ("partisan propaganda with public money"), and ensuring neutrality of TV3, Catalunya Ràdio and universities.[5]

References
  1. Regué, Júlia. "Así es Alejandro Fernández" [This is Alejandro Fernández]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  2. Martí, Pep (29 January 2021). "10 coses que potser no sabies d'Alejandro Fernández" [10 things you perhaps did not know about Alejandro Fernández] (in Catalan). Nació Digital. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  3. Pérez, Mercé (6 April 2011). "El PP de Tarragona retira la canción de 'Alejandro'" [Tarragona PP retire the 'Alejandro' song]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  4. "People's Party appoints new leader in Catalonia". Catalan News. 10 November 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  5. Gil Grande, Rocío (12 February 2021). "Diálogo, referéndum, DUI o federalismo: ¿Qué modelo territorial propone cada partido este 14F?" [Dialogue, referendum, unilateral declaration of independence or federalism: What territorial model is each party proposing this 14 February?] (in Spanish). RTVE. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
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