Francisco de Asís Serrano Castro (born 21 March 1965) is a Spanish former judge and politician of the Vox party. He began work as a judge aged 25, and received national attention for his anti-feminist views, as well as for a child custody case in 2010. This case saw him disqualified for two years, then ten, and then fully absolved. A member of Vox from 2014, he was their candidate for

President of the Regional Government of Andalusia The president of the Regional Government of Andalusia ( es, Presidente de la Junta de Andalucía) or, simply the president of Andalusia ( es, Presidente de Andalucía), is the premier of the devolved government of the Spanish autonomous community o ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. In the latter election, the party entered the Parliament of Andalusia with 12 seats. He left Vox and his parliamentary seat in 2020 after being implicated in an alleged fraud.

Early life and legal career

Serrano was born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and raised in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, where he graduated in law from the University of Seville. He began work as a judge in

Valverde del Camino Valverde Del Camino is a town in the Huelva province of Spain. As of 2008 it has 12,000 inhabitants. It is known for its production of ''vaquero The ''vaquero'' (; pt, vaqueiro, , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has ...

, Province of Huelva, in 1990. In December 2009, Serrano publicly criticised Spain's law on

gender violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply as ...

, believing that it was being used for false allegations against men, and that it was unconstitutional to give perpetrators harsher sentences solely for being male. A group of separated and divorced men dressed as

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

rallied in his support in front of his court. In October 2011, Serrano was disqualified as a judge for two years by the High Court of Justice of Andalusia for perversion of justice by breaking the child custody arrangements set by another judge. The previous year, he had allowed a father to have one more day with his son, so that the boy could take part in a

Semana Santa Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

procession. The court ordered Serrano to pay €4,000 to the boy's mother, but found that Serrano did not act with

intention Intentions are mental states in which the agent commits themselves to a course of action. Having the plan to visit the zoo tomorrow is an example of an intention. The action plan is the ''content'' of the intention while the commitment is the ''a ...

. The following July, the

Supreme Court of Spain The Supreme Court ('', TS'') is the highest court in the Kingdom of Spain. Originally established pursuant to Title V of the Constitution of 1812 to replace —in all matters that affected justice— the System of Councils, and currently regulat ...

found that he had acted with intention and increased his disqualification to 10 years, fining him €2,160. In October 2016, the

Constitutional Court of Spain The Constitutional Court ( es, Tribunal Constitucional) is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local in Spa ...

annulled the previous rulings; Serrano maintained that he had been a political victim for his views on gender.

Political career

Serrano joined the recently created political party Vox in October 2014. He was selected as their lead candidate for the

2015 Andalusian regional election The 2015 Andalusian regional election was held on Sunday, 22 March 2015, to elect the 10th Parliament of the autonomous community of Andalusia. All 109 seats in the Parliament were up for election. President Susana Díaz chose to terminate the co ...

. Vox came ninth, with 0.45% of the vote. He was also chosen as lead candidate for the

2018 election The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general elect ...

with 84% of the primary votes. Vox took 12 seats in the Parliament of Andalusia, a result which was referred to as the first electoral success by a far-right party since the

Spanish transition to democracy 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, Cana ...

. Serrano wrote that "feminist supremacy" was a reason why the sentences for the La Manada rape case were increased by the Supreme Court to 15 years in June 2019. Vox disavowed him for this position. In September 2020, Serrano quit Vox and his seat in parliament after being implicated in an alleged €2.6 million fraud. His seat and role as party leader in parliament went to

Macario Valpuesta Macario Valpuesta Bermúdez (born 12 July 1959) is a Spanish jurist and politician of the Vox party. He served in the Parliament of Andalusia from 2020 to 2022, as the party's group leader. Biography Born in Seville, Valpuesta has doctorates in ...

. He returned to work as a lawyer.

Personal life

Serrano married fellow Seville legal graduate María José Maestre in May 1991. The couple have two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serrano Castro, Francisco 1965 births Living people Politicians from Madrid Lawyers from Seville University of Seville alumni 21st-century Spanish judges Vox (political party) politicians Members of the 11th Parliament of Andalusia Male critics of feminism 20th-century Spanish judges