Emilio Pérez Touriño (; born 8 August 1948) is a Spanish politician and economist. He is the former secretary general of the Socialists' Party of Galicia and, from August 2005 to March 2009, former president of the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

of Galicia (Spain). Namely, he was president of the

executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

, the Xunta de Galicia. His political views are

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and Galicianist.

Academic studies

An economist by profession, Pérez Touriño completed a course of specialisation at the

University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...

(France). He finished his

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in economics at the University of Santiago de Compostela. He was also vice-president for financial affairs in that same university. During his university years, Touriño developed an intense academic activity, teaching and publishing a number of works on economy and development. He would frequently use Galicia and Galicia's infrastructures as a case study in the integration with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Politics

During the transition to democracy (1975–1982), following the end of

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

, Touriño rebranded himself as a left wing political activist and even participated in the drafting of the

Galician Statute of Autonomy of 1981 The Statute of Autonomy of Galicia of 1981 () is the current basic institutional norm of Galicia. The Galician Government, Parliament and High Court of Galicia are regulated by it. Genesis of the 1981 Statute The Statute passed in 1981 has i ...

. He joined the cabinet of minister Abel Caballero at the Spanish ministry for transportation, tourism and communications. He also worked in a senior position at the ministry for public works, transportation and the environment. In 1994, he was accused of having accepted irregular payments and as a result renounced to all his political posts and returned to academia. That same year he also received the Spanish Great Cross of Civil Merit. He eventually returned to politics in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

when he was elected to the Spanish Congress representing A Coruña Province though he resigned from Congress in 1997. In 1998, Touriño replaced Francisco Vázquez as general secretary of the Socialists' Party of Galicia. In 2005 he became the

president of Galicia The president of the Regional Government of Galicia (, ), is the head of government of Galicia. The president leads the executive branch of the regional government. The current office is established under the Galician Statute of Autonomy T ...

, defeating

Manuel Fraga Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who was also one of the founders of the People's Alliance (Spain), People's Alliance (AP). Fraga ...

's People's Party of Galicia, thanks to a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

established with the

Galician Nationalist Bloc The Galician Nationalist Bloc ( , BNG) is a political party from Galicia (Spain), Galicia, formed with the merger of a series of left-wing Galician nationalism, Galician nationalist parties. It is self-defined as a "patriotic Popular front, front" ...

. Subsequently, both coalition parties were engaged by the Spanish Prime Minister,

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. O ...

, in reviewing the current Statute of Autonomy, in order to renegotiate the status of Galicia as a part of the Spanish State.Parliamentary site on the Statute form
. Access date 26 September 2008 He was re-elected secretary general of the Socialists' Party of Galicia in July 2008. In the elections of 2009, his government was ousted by Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the PP.

Academic publications (selection)

* _ (1982): "A Evolución da agricultura no capitalismo: a concepción dos clásicos do marxismo como paradigma dunha visión determinista do desenvolvemento histórico", in ''Revista galega de estudios agrarios'', no. 6, p. 183–207. * _ (1983): ''Agricultura y capitalismo: análisis de la pequeña producción campesina''. Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Servicio de Publicaciones Agrarias, Madrid. * _ (1992): "Las infraestructuras como factor de despegue del desarrollo gallego", in ''Estructura económica de Galicia'', González Laxe ir Espasa Calpe, Madrid, p. 429–488. * _ et al. (1997): ''Infraestructuras y desarrollo regional: efectos económicos de la autopista del Atlántico''. Civitas, Madrid. * _ et al. (1998): ''Los Efectos económicos de las autovías de Galicia''. Instituto de Estudios Económicos de Galicia Pedro Barrié de la Maza, A Coruña. * _ (2001): ''En clave de país''. Santa Comba, A Coruña. * _ (2001): "Eurorrexión Galicia-Norte de Portugal, unha oportunidade e un reto", in ''Tempo exterior'', no. 3, p. 17–22.

References

Emilio Pérez Touriño official biography
at Xunta de Galicia website. Access date 26 September 2008
Profile of Pérez Touriño
published by the newspaper ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

'' in June 2005. Access date 26 September 2008

Notes

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Perez Tourino, Emilio 1948 births Living people People from A Coruña Presidents of the Regional Government of Galicia Politicians from Galicia (Spain) Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Members of the 6th Parliament of Galicia Members of the 7th Parliament of Galicia Members of the 8th Parliament of Galicia

Academic studies

Politics

Academic publications (selection)

See also

References

Notes