(Paco Vázquez) Fernández de la Vega recibe al alcalde de A Coruña

Francisco José Vázquez Vázquez (born 9 April 1946) is a Spanish politician who represented the

Socialists' Party of Galicia The Socialists' Party of Galicia ( gl, Partido dos Socialistas de Galicia, PSdeG–PSOE) is a centre-left political party in Galicia, Spain. It is the Galician affiliate of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). It defines itself as a Gal ...

. He was mayor of his hometown of

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

from 1983 to 2006, and also served in the

Parliament of Galicia The Parliament of Galicia () is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. It is formed by 75 deputies (). Deputies are elected every four years in ordinary period, or extraordinarily upon dissolut ...

and both chambers of the

Cortes Generales The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets ...

. From 2006 to 2011, he was Spain's ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

. Vázquez, who holds socially conservative beliefs, later left 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 gov ...

due to differences in ideology.

Career

Vázquez opposed the 1994 Galician Supreme Court decision that made place names in the Galician language official, opining that he should be allowed to use the Spanish-language name ''La Coruña'' when speaking Spanish, as the region is bilingual. In 2008 he was cleared of wrongdoing in court after being sued for this, with the court sharing his reasoning. In February 2006, Vázquez was chosen by 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 ...

to be Spain's ambassador to the

. According to ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' 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 . ''El Pa ...

'', Vázquez – a practicing Catholic who opposes abortion and gay marriage – was chosen to improve Spain's then fracturous relations with the Vatican. He resigned five years later. Vázquez left the

due to his opposition to the

Law of Historical Memory Law 52/2007 That recognises and broadens the rights and establishes measures in favour of those who suffered persecution or violence during the Civil War and the Dictatorship (in Spanish: ''Ley 52/2007 por la que se reconocen y amplían derechos ...

, which he considers to have broken the reconciliation of 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 ...

: "we were all victims and killers at the same time. To whoever says Paracuellos (site of a Republican massacre) to you, you can respond with Badajoz (site of a Nationalist massacre), and vice versa"; he also said the party "stops being social-democratic and sinks when it flies unrelated flags like ecology and gender ideology". From November 2018, he campaigned with

Albert Rivera Albert Rivera Díaz (born 15 November 1979) is a Spanish former politician who was the leader of Citizens from its founding in 2006 until 2019. He was a member of the Parliament of Catalonia (2006–2015) and the Congress of Deputies (2015–201 ...

, leader of

Citizens Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

Personal life

Vázquez's love of comic books has been documented. He was one of two creators of the ''Viñetas desde el Atlántico'' ("Comics from the Atlantic") festival in his hometown, and owns one of the biggest private collections in Spain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vazquez Vazquez, Francisco 1946 births Living people People from A Coruña Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Mayors of places in Galicia Ambassadors of Spain to the Holy See Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish collectors