Gonzalo Capellán de Miguel (born 23 January 1972) is a Spanish academic and People's Party (PP) politician. He led the party in the

2023 Riojan regional election The 2023 Riojan regional election was held on Sunday, 28 May 2023, to elect the 11th Parliament of La Rioja, Parliament of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja. All 33 seats in the Parliament were ...

, in which they won a majority and he became

President of La Rioja The president of La Rioja is the head of government of the Spain, Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of La Rioja. The current incumbent is Gonzalo Capellán of the People's Party (Spain), PP, who has held the office sinc ...

Biography

Capellán was born in

Haro, La Rioja Haro () is a town and municipality in the northwest of La Rioja province in Northern Spain. It hosts the annual Haro Wine Festival, as it produces red wine. Its architectural heritage includes the plateresque main entrance of the Church of Sant ...

. His father Patricio, who died in 2016, was the town's mayor from 1987 to 2015, representing the People's Party (PP). He graduated in history and geography from the

University of Cantabria The University of Cantabria (UC) () is a public university located in Santander, Torrelavega and Comillas in Cantabria, Spain. It was founded in 1972 and comprises 15 schools and colleges. It was selected as Campus of International Ex ...

and became a lecturer at the

University of La Rioja The University of La Rioja (UR) is a public institution of higher education based in Logroño, La Rioja, Spain. Inaugurated during 1992–1993 from various existing schools and colleges, it currently teaches Grades 19 adapted to the European High ...

. Capellán was elected to the

Parliament of La Rioja The Parliament of La Rioja (Spanish: ''Parlamento de La Rioja'') is the unicameral List of Spanish regional legislatures, autonomous parliament of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja, one of the autonomous communities of Spain. The parliament, composed o ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. He resigned in September 2008 due to his responsibilities as vice-rector of the University of Cantabria. Having already been

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...

's director general of culture between 2003 and 2007, he was named Minister of Education, Culture and Tourism in the cabinet of

Pedro Sanz Pedro Sanz Alonso (born Igea, La Rioja, 27 December 1953), is a Spanish politician, President of the autonomous community of La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in ...

in June 2011. He left in November 2014 to be Minister of Education for the Spanish embassy in the United Kingdom. In 2020, Capellán returned to Spain and in February 2022 he was promoted to Professor of Contemporary History at the University of La Rioja. That October, he was chosen as the PP candidate for the

by the party's national leader,

Alberto Núñez Feijóo Alberto Núñez Feijóo (, ; born 10 September 1961) is a Spanish politician who serves as Member of the Congress of Deputies and as president of the People's Party (Spain), People's Party. He served as the president of the Regional Government o ...

. His party won 17 of 33 seats, winning back the government from the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE) after four years. He was officially elected the 9th

on 28 June, with his party voting in favour and all other parties against.

References

1972 births Living people University of Cantabria alumni Academic staff of the University of Cantabria People's Party (Spain) politicians Members of the 7th Parliament of La Rioja (Spain) Presidents of La Rioja (Spain) {{Spain-politician-stub