José Manuel Soria López (born 5 January 1958) is a Spanish politician and businessman. He was involved in the regional politics of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

before being elected to the national congress and serving as Spain's minister of industry, energy and tourism from 2011 to 2016. He was forced to resign in April 2016 after being linked with offshore companies in the

Panama Papers The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...

Early life and education

Soria was born in

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auton ...

in 1958. He holds a graduate degree in economics and business studies.

Career

Soria was a market analyst for

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

the Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

at the Spanish Embassy in Venezuela from 1980 to 1981. He then served as the head of the imports service at the ministry of trade in 1984. He was lecturer of macro economics and international economics at the Centre for Trade Studies 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 ...

from 1984 to 1989. He also served as the head of foreign trade at the ministry of trade in 1985, advisor to the minister of finance from 1986 to 1987 and chief of staff of the general secretariat of commerce from 1988 to 1989. He was the mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria from 1995 to 2003. He was elected president of the Popular Party of the Canary Islands in October 1999. Then he served as the president of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria from June 2003 to July 2007. He became a member of the regional parliament in June 2003 which he still holds. He also headed the party's group at the Canary Islands parliament. He served at the Canary Islands government as vice-president and treasury minister from July 2007 to October 2010. He was a member of the congress of deputies for

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

in the 10th Legislature. He was appointed minister of industry, energy and tourism to the cabinet led by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...

on 22 December 2011. In April 2016, following the publication of the

, it was learned that Soria, along with other members of his family, operated a network of companies including ones based in the Bahamas and Jersey. After initially denying having links to tax havens, he resigned on 15 April 2016 as industry minister. He also resigned from the leadership of his party in the Canary Islands and from his post as congressional deputy. In September 2016, the Spanish government selected him as a candidate for the executive director of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

. Some Spanish politicians expressed their concerns about this candidacy. Due to the pressure of politicians and public opinion he withdrew his application for that job.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soria, Jose Manuel 21st-century Spanish politicians 1958 births Government ministers of Spain Industry ministers of Spain Living people Mayors of places in the Canary Islands Members of the 6th Parliament of the Canary Islands Members of the 7th Parliament of the Canary Islands Members of the 10th Congress of Deputies (Spain) People from Las Palmas People named in the Panama Papers People's Party (Spain) politicians Academics from the Canary Islands