Alicia Sánchez-Camacho Pérez (born 22 April 1967) is a Spanish lawyer and politician. She served as the President of the People's Party in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

from 2008 to 2017. Sánchez-Camacho was born to

Manchego Manchego (officially es, queso manchego, ) is a cheese made in the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of sheep of the Manchega breed. It is aged between 60 days and 2 years. Manchego has a firm and compact consistency and a buttery textu ...

and Extremaduran parents in Blanes. Her father was a Guardia Civil officer. Sánchez-Camacho was elected as a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

for the

Province of Girona Girona (; es, Gerona ; french: Gérone) is a province of Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest by the province of Barcelona, on the ...

in the Catalan parliamentary elections of 1999 and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. She was also elected as the Deputy for

Barcelona Province Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .Spanish general election of 2004. On 16 April 2008, Sánchez-Camacho was appointed by the

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...

to replace

Daniel Sirera Daniel Sirera Bellés (born 30 July 1967 in Badalona) is a Spanish politician. He served as the chairman of the People's Party in Catalonia (PPC) from 2007–2008.Spanish Senate The Senate ( es, Senado) is the upper house of the Cortes Generales, which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. Th ...

. Following the People's Party's poor performance in Catalonia at the

2008 Spanish general election The 2008 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 9 March 2008, to elect the 9th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 264 seats in the Senate. After four y ...

Daniel Sirera Daniel Sirera Bellés (born 30 July 1967 in Badalona) is a Spanish politician. He served as the chairman of the People's Party in Catalonia (PPC) from 2007–2008.Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...

. Sánchez-Camacho was Rajoy's chosen candidate for the regional chairmanship. She was challenged by

Montserrat Nebrera Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with roughly of coastline. It is ni ...

, who ran on a more

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

-minded platform. Despite having the backing of the national leadership, Sánchez-Camacho polled a lower-than-expected 56% in winning the run-off election. Alicia_Sánchez-Camacho_y_Aguirre_en_2010

Alicia_Sánchez-Camacho_y_Aguirre_en_2010

Ahead of the

2010 Catalan parliamentary election The 2010 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 28 November 2010, to elect the 9th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. This was the first election held in Catalonia afte ...

, Sánchez-Camacho took the unusual step in Spanish politics of setting up the country's tolerance of high

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

as a key campaign topic. Again, in 2013 and 2017, she was involved in the "Camargate" case, where she recorded a conversation with the objective of incriminating Catalan sovereignist parties and politicians in 2010.

Controversies

Xenophobic content

In April 2010, Alicia Sánchez-Camacho was forced to apologize publicly for a diptych with radical xenophobic content with allusions to the skinheads of the city of

Badalona Badalona (, , , ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality to the immediate north east of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Besòs River and on the Mediterranean Sea, in the Barcelona metropolitan area. By popu ...

, edited by the PP of Badalona (

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

), which linked

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n citizens settled in the municipality with

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

and the need for radical population increase to eradicate this "plague". The national leadership of his party had rejected the message the previous day after his complaint by the media. Subsequently, he visited the municipality accompanied by the French

MEP MEP may refer to: Organisations and politics * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka * Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...

Marie Thérèse Sanchez-Schmid to check on the ground the situation of the Romanian

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

community in the neighborhoods of La Salut and Sant Roc and hear the testimonies of the neighbors about the alleged bad coexistence with the Romanian community. On that same visit, Sánchez-Camacho asked the government for more

border control Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...

and defended a "legal and orderly" immigration.

Camargate

In June 2013, a four-minutes conversation, referred to by the media as ''Camargate'', was made public, held with María Victoria "Vicky" Álvarez (former sentimental partner of Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, Jordi Pujol's son) in the restaurant La Camarga, in L'Eixample of

, carried out by the Detective Agency Método 3, whose total duration was later uncovered by the Diario Público. The objective of the recording, whose participation Sánchez-Camacho strongly denied at the time, was to launch the so-called "Operation Catalonia", a political plot led by the PP against Catalan sovereignist parties and politicians. Declaring that the Pujol family had a fortune in

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

would, according to Sanchez-Camacho, later "start Jordi Pujol Ferrusola's imputation". Denying his relationship with the case implied that he loaned

false testimony Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

before a judicial declaration and the commission of investigation of the Parlament de Catalunya. The recording took place on July 7, 2010, and its duration was 2 hours and 22 minutes. First, the employee of Método 3 Alejandro Borreguero came to the restaurant with a vase of flowers that had a built-in microphone inside, and that would serve as a centerpiece. The recordings, which had already begun when the employee entered the restaurant shortly before 2:00 p.m., confirmed a conversation between the agent and a manager in which the assignment of Sánchez-Camacho was alluded to. In addition, he stated that Método 3 would take over the price of the meal. During the recording of the meal, which began after the technician left the restaurant, Sánchez-Camacho declared "Vicky, in the event that we could now do something with all of this, this meal has never happened.", " I have very good contacts inside the police ..and I knew who they were going to arrest " and, especially, "I have a public prosecutor of my trust". Later, Sánchez-Camacho delivered a report with the results of the recording to the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

, whose president

Jorge Fernández Díaz Jorge Fernández Díaz (born 6 April 1950) is a Spanish politician and a member of the Partido Popular (PP). Early life and education Born on 6 April 1950 in Valladolid, he was the son of a military officer and Deputy Inspector-Chief of the B ...

would later also be involved in the "Operation Catalonia ".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez-Camacho, Alicia 1967 births Lawyers from Catalonia Women politicians from Catalonia Women lawyers from Catalonia Living people Members of the 8th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 12th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the Parliament of Catalonia Members of the Senate of Spain People's Party (Spain) politicians Politicians from Barcelona Women members of the Congress of Deputies (Spain)