Ander Gil García (born 9 February 1974) is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

teacher and politician serving as the 62nd and current

president of the Senate of Spain The president of the Senate is the presiding officer of the Spanish Senate, the upper house of Spain's Cortes Generales. It is the fourth authority of the country after the Monarch (Head of State), the Prime Minister (Head of Government) and ...

since 2021. Gil has been Senator for

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of ...

since 2011 and

Spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

of the

Socialist Group The Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group (french: Groupe Socialiste, SOC) is a primarily social-democratic political grouping in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. It was known as the Socialist Group prior to August 2017. The ...

in the Senate from 2017 to 2021. Previously, Gil served as a local councillor for

Valle de Mena The Mena Valley () is a municipality of the province of Burgos in Spain. It is located in the autonomous community of Castile and León, bordering the provinces of Alava, Biscay and Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an auto ...

from 1995 to 2011.

Biography

Gil was born in

Barakaldo Barakaldo ( es, Baracaldo; eu, Barakaldo ) is a municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country. Located on the Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is part of Greater Bilbao, has a population at 100,881. Barakaldo h ...

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

. He graduated as an elementary school teacher in the

University of Burgos The University of Burgos (in Spanish: Universidad de Burgos and often abbreviated UBU) is a public university in the Spanish city of Burgos with about 10,000 students studying over 30 different undergraduate degrees, over 20 PhD Programmes, as we ...

and he started his political career at the age of 21, when he was elected local councillor in

, Burgos province. He was appointed by Mayor Armando Robredo Cerro as Councillor for Culture, Education and Youth. He also worked at Biscay in a Reception Center for Foreign Unaccompanied Minors.

National politics

After more than fifteen years in local politics, Gil was appointed candidate to the Senate for the

Province of Burgos The Province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Valladoli ...

for the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...

, being elected for the first time in the 2011 general election. He acquired greater fame after the 2016 PSOE crisis when, after supporting

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having pr ...

, the latter rewarded him by appointed him as

of the Socialist Group in the Senate. On 27 October 2017, Gil defended the application of Article 155 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

in Catalonia from the tribune of the Senate on behalf of the

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

, after this region held an illegal referendum and approved a disconnection law and a unilateral declaration of independence during the premiership of

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 ...

( PP). After the vote of no confidence against the government of Rajoy and the election of Pedro Sanchez as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

on 1 June 2018, the PSOE faced an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

in the Senate of the PP (62 socialist senators vs 146 PP senators), which had the objective of hindering the work of the socialist government, as was demonstrated by the PP veto to increase the limit of expenditure of the

General State Budget The General State Budget (PGE) (''Spanish: Presupuestos Generales del Estado'') comprises the spending and revenues of the Spanish central government. The PGE is considered the most important act that a government enacts in a year and determine i ...

on 27 December 2018. This veto prevented the use of 6 extra billion euros. During this period of minority government, Gil led the Socialist Parliamentary Group in the Senate managing to approve 86% of their initiatives debated in the Senate. Ander Gil also managed to defend the Prime Minister from the constant attacks of the People's Party, especially his demands to appear in the Senate without agreeing with the rest of the political forces and the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

itself. These PP attacks provoked an unprecedented scenario on 24 January 2019, when the PP convened an extraordinary plenary session in the Senate for the appearance of

, while he was at the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

meeting in Davos ( Switzerland). In December 2018, he was named "Senator of the Year" by the Association of Parliamentary Journalists. He ran for re-election in the 2019 general election, being re-elected for the third time and becoming the most voted senator in the

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, above his direct rival, the Mayor of Burgos, Javier Lacalle, from the People's Party. This was the first time in democracy that a candidate from the left managed to be the most voted senator. Also in this elections, the

got an absolute majority for the first time since 1993. As a reward for his job during the minority government, Sánchez nominated him again to lead the Socialist Group in the Senate, a nomination that was approved by the Executive Body of the Party. In July 2021, the 61st president of the Senate,

Pilar Llop María Pilar Llop Cuenca (born 3 August 1973) is a Spanish judge and politician who has been serving as minister of Justice of Spain and ''ex officio'' First Notary of the Kingdom since 2021. Previously, she served as the 61st president of th ...

, resigned after her nomination as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. Because of this, the majority of the chamber elected Gil as the 62nd

President of the Senate of Spain The president of the Senate is the presiding officer of the Spanish Senate, the upper house of Spain's Cortes Generales. It is the fourth authority of the country after the Monarch (Head of State), the Prime Minister (Head of Government) and ...

on 12 July 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gil, Ander 1974 births Living people Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Members of the Senate of Spain People from Barakaldo Spanish municipal councillors University of Burgos alumni Members of the 13th Senate of Spain Members of the 12th Senate of Spain Politicians from the Basque Country (autonomous community)