Carlo Pollán Fernández (born 1966) is a Spanish politician of the Vox party. He was formerly a player, coach and president of the

CB Ademar León Abanca Ademar León is a Spanish handball team based in León, Spain. It plays in Liga ASOBAL. History Founded in 1956, Ademar León is the handball team of the city of León. Until 1975 it played in the provincial categories when not existi ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

club. Elected to the

Cortes of Castile and León The Cortes of Castile and León (Spanish: ''Cortes de Castilla y León'') is the elected unicameral legislature of the Autonomous Community of Castile and León. The tradition of the regional Cortes is traced back to the Royal Council (Latin: ' ...

in the 2022 election, he became the President of the Cortes.

Early life and career

Born in León, Pollán is the son of a miner. He graduated in law and became an employment advisor, while being part of the

club from 1986 to 2013. He played as a goalkeeper for eight years and coached its youth teams before becoming club president in 2009. His presidency ended in bankruptcy over a €500,000 debt, with the club going through insolvency proceedings. Pollán has two children and is separated from their mother.

Political career

In 2019, Pollán ran unsuccessfully for mayor of

Sariegos Sariegos is a municipality located in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Institu ...

in the

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

, and in fifth on Vox's list for the

in the regional election. In the same year, he became the fourth person in the same year to lead Vox in the

Province of León León (, , ; ; ) is a province of northwestern Spain in the northern part of the Region of León and in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. About one quarter of its population of 463,746 (2018) lives in the cap ...

, amidst a crisis over the party not entering the Provincial Deputation. Pollán led Vox's list in León for the

2022 Castilian-Leonese regional election The 2022 Castilian-Leonese regional election was held on Sunday, 13 February 2022, to elect the 11th Cortes of the autonomous community of Castile and León. All 81 seats in the Cortes were up for election. This marks the first time that a regiona ...

. On 10 March, the People's Party of regional president

Alfonso Fernández Mañueco Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (born 29 April 1965) is a Spanish politician who serves as the President of the Junta of Castile and León since 2019. He is also the chairman of the People's Party of Castile and León since 2017. He served as Mayor o ...

formed a government with Vox, the first regional government to include the party. Pollán became President of the Cortes, the

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

. Pollán openly opposes Spain's division into

autonomous communities eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

, believing that this has turned a centralised state into 17 centralised states and has disadvantaged peripheral provinces such as his native León.

References

1966 births Living people Sportspeople from León, Spain Spanish male handball players Spanish handball coaches Sportsperson-politicians Vox (political party) politicians Presidents of the Cortes of Castile and León Members of the 11th Cortes of Castile and León {{Spain-handball-bio-stub