Gerardo Iglesias Argüelles (born 29 June 1945) is a Spanish retired politician and miner. He was the secretary-general of the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving as ...

(PCE) from 1982 to 1988.

Biography

Born on 29 June 1945 in El Cerezal, in the Asturian municipality of

Mieres Mieres is a municipality of Asturias, northern Spain, with approximately 38,000 inhabitants. The municipality of Mieres is made up of the capital, Mieres del Camino and the villages of Baiña, Figaredo, Cenera, Loredo, La Peña, La Rebollada, ...

, to a family of miners, he began to work as builder at age 12, and at the coal mines at age 15, when he was already a member of the clandestine

(PCE). During the

Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Sp ...

Iglesias spent much of his youth in prison for his political activities in opposition to the regime and joined the PCE's Central Committee. He later became during 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 ...

the leader of the

Comisiones Obreras The Workers' Commissions ( es, Comisiones Obreras, CCOO) since the 1970s has become the largest trade union in Spain. It has more than one million members, and is the most successful union in labor elections, competing with the Unión General de ...

's regional Asturias branch and the PCE's Asturian organization. In 1982 he replaced

Santiago Carrillo Santiago José Carrillo Solares (18 January 1915 – 18 September 2012) was a Spanish politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain (main), Communist Party of Spain (PCE) from 1960 to 1982. His role in the Paracu ...

at the helm of the PCE, and following the June 1986 general election, he was elected member of the 3rd

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

in representation of

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 ...

, running as candidate of the newly created United Left (IU) coalition in which the PCE had subsumed. He resigned to the leadership of the PCE in March 1988, leaving the party in November 1988 over discrepancies with the new Secretary-General,

Julio Anguita Julio Anguita González (21 November 194116 May 2020) was a Spanish politician and historian. He was Mayor of Córdoba, Spain, Córdoba from 1979 to 1986, coordinator of United Left (Spain), United Left (IU) between 1989 and 1999, and Secretary- ...

. He briefly served as the first coordinator of IU (progressively becoming a full-fledged federation) before also giving the reins to Anguita and returning to the mine in 1989. He suffered a work accident at the mine shafts, and as he had not recovered from a surgical operation of

spinal disc herniation Spinal disc herniation is an injury to the cushioning and connective tissue between vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, and physical ...

, he asked in 1990 for the accreditation of permanent incapacity benefits, which were granted in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iglesias, Gerardo Members of the 3rd Congress of Deputies (Spain) 1945 births Communist Party of Spain politicians Spanish miners Living people