José Luis Ábalos

José Luis Ábalos Meco (born 9 December 1959) is a Spanish politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party serving as Member of the Congress of Deputies since 2009. He has served as minister of Development (of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda since 2020) of the Government of Spain from 2018 to 2021, in the cabinets chaired by Pedro Sánchez. He was also the Secretary of Organization of his party from 2017 to 2021.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ábalos and the second or maternal family name is Meco.
The Most Excellent
José Luis Ábalos
Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda
In office
7 June 2018 – 14 July 2021
MonarchFelipe VI
Preceded byIñigo de la Serna
Succeeded byRaquel Sánchez
Member of the Congress of Deputies
Assumed office
21 May 2019
ConstituencyValencia
In office
21 April 2009 – 15 June 2018
ConstituencyValencia
Personal details
Born (1959-12-09) 9 December 1959
Torrent, Valencia, Spain
Political partyPSOE
ProfessionPrimary teacher, Politician

Biography

Ábalos was born in Torrent (province of Valencia) in 1959.[1] He is the son of bullfighter Heliodoro Ábalos "Carbonerito" and the grandson of a Civil Guard officer, Julián Meco, who died in active service because of a pneumonia during the Revolution of 1934.[2]

He joined the Communist Youth Union of Spain at the age of 17 and in 1978 he officially joined the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). After leaving the PCE, Ábalos joined the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in 1981.[1][3]

Ábalos worked as a primary school teacher. Within the PSOE, he served as Secretary-General of the PSOE for the Valencia City North region (based around the district of Orriols) from 1988 to 1995 before he became PSOE Secretary-General for Valencia city in the latter year. He also stood as a candidate for Secretary-General of the PSOE in the Valencian Community in 2001 and 2008, but was unsuccessful on both occasions.

He was a member of Valencia City Council from 1999 to 2009[4][5] while also being a member of the Provincial Deputation of Valencia for the 2003–2007 period.[4] For the Spanish General Election of 2008, he was selected as a candidate for the PSOE, being placed eighth on the list for Valencia Province.[6] With the PSOE (as in 2004) winning seven seats, Ábalos initially failed to be elected to the Spanish Congress, but in April 2009 he joined the Congress as a substitute for Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero, who had been appointed Secretary-General for Infraestructures within the Ministry of Public Works.[7]

On 24 May 2017, he was appointed Acting Spokesperson of the Socialist Group in Congress after the victory of Pedro Sánchez in the party's leadership election. He served as such until June 19, 2017, when Margarita Robles was appointed Spokesperson[8] and Ábalos was appointed Secretary of Organization of the PSOE.[9]

Minister

In June 2018, prime minister Pedro Sánchez appointed Ábalos as Minister of Development.[10] Ábalos, along with ministers Robles and Batet were the only ministers in the first Cabinet of Pedro Sánchez who were also members of parliament. To avoid overlaps in their agendas, they resigned to its seats at the Congress of Deputies.[11]

The Prime Minister called for snap elections twice in 2019, winning the PSOE both of them. In both elections, Ábalos ran for election, being elected MP for the Valencian constituency.

After the November election, PSOE reached a deal with Unidas Podemos to form a coalition government presided by Sánchez, and Ábalos was confirmed on its position as Minister, although the portfolio was renamed as Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.[12]

In January 2020, Ábalos met in the guest area of the Madrid–Barajas Airport with Delcy Rodríguez, Vice President of Venezuela, despite the entry ban imposed by the European Union.[13]

In July 2021, he was replaced by Raquel Sánchez Jiménez as minister of Transport. He also resigned as Secretary of Organization of PSOE.

Positions held
  • Secretary General of the Socialist Party of Valencia PSPV-PSOE (1995–2000)
  • President of the National Committee of the PSPV-PSOE (1997–1999)
  • Councilor of the City Hall of Valencia (1999–2009)
  • Vicesecretary General of PSPV-PSOE (2000–2004)
  • Member of the County Council of Valencia (2003–2007)
  • Member of the Congress of Deputies representing the Constituency of Valencia (2009–2018; 2019–)
  • Secretary General of PSPV in the province of Valencia (2012–2017)
  • Acting Spokesperson of the Socialist Party at the Spanish Congress of Deputies (2017)
  • Organizational Secretary of PSOE (2017–2021)
  • Minister of Development (2018–2020); Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (2020–2021)

Electoral history
José Luis Ábalos' electoral history
Election List Constituency # Result Ref.
Valencia municipal election, 1999 PSOE - 2nd (out of 33) Elected [14]
Valencia municipal election, 2003 PSOE - 2nd (out of 33) Elected [15]
Valencia municipal election, 2007 PSOE - 4th (out of 33) Elected [16]
Spanish general election, 2008 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 8th (out of 16) Not elected [17][n. 1]
Spanish general election, 2011 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 3rd (out of 16) Elected [18]
Spanish general election, 2015 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 2nd (out of 15) Elected [19]
Spanish general election, 2016 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 2nd (out of 16) Elected [20]
Spanish general election, April 2019 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 1st (out of 15) Elected [21]
Spanish general election, November 2019 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 1st (out of 15) Elected [22]
  1. Ábalos was proclaimed deputy after the 2009 renouncement of Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero.

References
  1. "17 cosas que no sabías de José Luis Ábalos". El Huffington Post (in Spanish). 2017-05-24. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  2. "Ábalos, nieto de guardia civil, hijo del torero 'Carbonerito': la historia familiar del poderoso ministro". El Español (in European Spanish). 2018-06-16. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  3. "José Luis Ábalos, una juventud comunista y una carrera socialista peldaño a peldaño". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 2018-06-05. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  4. García de Blas, Elsa (4 June 2018). "José Luis Ábalos, el pacificador interno". El País (in Spanish). Madrid: Prisa. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  5. "ÁBALOS MECO, José Luis (Torrent, 1959)" (PDF). Dictionary of Valencian politicians. 2005. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  6. "PSOE candidates list 2008". El Pais. 9 March 2008. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  7. Europa Press (16 April 2009). "Blanco nombra a Rodríguez-Piñero secretaria general de Infraestructuras". Levante – El Mercantil Valenciano (in Spanish). Prensa Ibérica. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  8. "La magistrada Margarita Robles será la nueva portavoz del PSOE en el Congreso de los Diputados". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2017-06-18. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  9. AGENCIAS, RTVE es / (2017-06-15). "Adriana Lastra y José Luis Ábalos, apuestas de Sánchez como números dos y tres de la nueva Ejecutiva". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  10. "Los ministros del Gobierno de Pedro Sánchez". El País (in Spanish). 2018-06-07. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  11. Blas, Elsa García de (2018-06-14). "Los tres ministros de Sánchez que son diputados dejarán su escaño". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  12. LaInformacion (10 January 2020). "Fomento cambia de nombre: Ábalos sigue como ministro de Transporte y Movilidad". La Información (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  13. "Spain-Venezuela encounter by tarmac unleashes speculation". AP NEWS. 2020-01-23. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  14. "Edicto de la Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia sobre proclamación de candidaturas para las elecciones locales 1999". Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Valencia. Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia (116 (2.º suplemento)): 93. 18 May 1999. Archived from the original on 23 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  15. "Edicto de la Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia sobre proclamación de candidaturas para las elecciones locales 2003". Boletín oficial de la Provincia de Valencia. Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia (100). 29 April 2003.
  16. "Edicto de la Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia sobre proclamación de candidaturas para las elecciones locales". Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Valencia. Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia (suplemento 2 al núm. 103): 92–94. 2 May 1995. Archived from the original on 23 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  17. "Candidaturas proclamadas para las elecciones al Congreso de los Diputados y al Senado, convocadas por Real Decreto 33/2008, de 14 de enero" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado. Juntas Electorales Provinciales (37): 7686. 12 February 2008. ISSN 0212-033X.
  18. "Candidaturas proclamadas para las elecciones al Congreso de los Diputados y al Senado, convocadas por Real Decreto 1329/2011, de 26 de septiembre" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado. Juntas Electorales Provinciales (257): 111473. 25 October 2011. ISSN 0212-033X.
  19. "Candidaturas proclamadas para las elecciones al Congreso de los Diputados y al Senado, convocadas por Real Decreto 977/2015, de 26 de octubre" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado. Juntas Electorales Provinciales (281): 110884. 24 November 2015. ISSN 0212-033X.
  20. "Candidaturas proclamadas para las elecciones al Congreso de los Diputados y al Senado, convocadas por Real Decreto 184/2016, de 3 de mayo" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado. Juntas Electorales Provinciales (131): 35559. 31 May 2016. ISSN 0212-033X.
  21. "Candidaturas proclamadas para las elecciones al Congreso de los Diputados y al Senado, convocadas por Real Decreto 129/2019, de 4 de marzo" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado. Juntas Electorales Provinciales (79): 34435. 2 April 2019. ISSN 0212-033X.
  22. "Candidaturas proclamadas para las elecciones al Congreso de los Diputados y al Senado, convocadas por Real Decreto 551/2019, de 24 de septiembre" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado. Juntas Electorales Provinciales (248): 113718. 15 October 2019. ISSN 0212-033X.
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