Josep Lluís Albiñana Olmos (born 1943, in

Valencia, Spain Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area also ...

) is a Spanish judge and former politician in 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 ...

(PSOE). Married, with three children, Albiñana qualified as a lawyer. His first political involvement came in the late 1960s when he joined the Democratic Union of the Valencian Country (UDPV).Dictionary of Valencian politicians 1810-2006 by Jose Piqueras
However he later left the UDPV when the party decided to follow a

Christian Democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

route. He then joined the PSOE in 1975 and was later elected to the party's federal executive committee. In 1977 he stood in the first democratic elections since the death of the caudillo

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

as a candidate for the Spanish Congress of Deputies, heading the PSOE list in

Valencia Province Valencia ( ca-valencia, València) is a province of Spain, in the central part of the autonomous Valencian Community. Of the province's over 2.5 million people (2018), one-third live in the capital, Valencia, which is also the capital of the au ...

and was elected to Congress. In 1978, he became the first President of the Valencian Government, the Valencian regional administration. During his time in office, he pushed for full

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

of powers to the Valencian region and supported bilingualism, arguing that the Valencian language should be given equal status with Spanish in the Valencia region. He resigned the position in May 1979, feeling that he was failing to receive support from the local branch of the PSOELa Vanguardia, 15 May 1979, p15, accessed 23 May 2010
/ref> but was persuaded to resume his duties in June 1979. However, from July 1979 onwards, the PSOE members gradually withdrew from the Valencian administration in protest at what they perceived to be stalling on the devolution issue by the Union of the Democratic Centre which at that point formed the Spanish government. Albiñana finally resigned the Valencian Presidency on 22 December 1979. He was re-elected to Congress in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

but resigned from Congress in February 1980. Albiñana retired from political life in 1983 and thereafter concentrated on his legal work, being reappointed a judge.

References

External links

Biography at Spanish Congress site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albinana Olmos, Jose Luis 1943 births Living people People from Valencia Presidents of the Valencian Government Members of the constituent Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 1st Congress of Deputies (Spain) Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians