José María Bellido Roche (born 15 September 1977) is a Spanish People's Party (PP) politician who is a city councillor (2004–) and the mayor (2019–) of

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

Biography

Early life and career

Bellido was born in the Vallellano neighbourhood of

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

and gained his interest in local politics from his father, who was a secretary at the city hall in

Almodóvar del Río Almodóvar del Río is a small historic city located in the province of Córdoba, Spain, located in the Valle Medio del Guadalquivir Comarca. In 2022, there were 8093 inhabitants. It belongs to the judicial district of Posadas. Geography Th ...

. He graduated in law from the University of Córdoba and obtained a master's degree in Human Resources Management at

ESIC University ESIC University (ESIC Business & Marketing School) is a private university located in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Spain, specialized in Marketing, Management and Digital Business.They are also found throughout Spain in cities such as Malaga, Barcelona, ...

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. In 1996, he joined the New Generations of the People's Party. He was first a candidate for the city council

in 1999 ''In 1999'' is a 1912 one-act comedic short play by William C. deMille, originally produced by Jesse L. Lasky, that was popular upon its release. Its gags are based on a future where gender roles are reversed. Production The piece debuted at t ...

, 18th on the party's list. In 2004, he was elected. When the PP obtained the mayoralty with José Antonio Nieto, Bellido was put in charge of the treasury and administration. After Nieto lost the

2015 election Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African g ...

to Isabel Ambrosio of 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), Bellido became the party's spokesman in the city hall and in 2018 was named the mayoral candidate for the following year.

Mayor of Córdoba

In June 2019, Bellido was invested as mayor of Córdoba after all councillors of the PP and

Citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

voted in his favour, and Vox abstained. Within his first month in office, he closed down a commission initiated by his predecessor, which had claimed that the city's Mosque–Cathedral was public property and not the property of the Catholic Church. He then sought to normalise relations between the local government and the church. In August 2020, following the reconversion of Istanbul's

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

into a mosque,

Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi (; born 2 July 1939) is an Emirati royal, politician, author, historian, and the current and 11th ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah and a member of the Federal Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates s ...

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

called for the Córdoba building to go through the same process. Bellido replied that "As mayor, I intend to defend our city, and if people come from outside telling us what to do, they are going to have the door closed in their faces". In March 2020, Bellido reversed the name changes of two local streets by Ambrosio, who had cited the

Law of Historical Memory Law 52/2007, commonly known as Historical Memory Law (Sp: ''Ley de Memoria Histórica''), recognises and broadens "the rights and establishes measures in favour of those who suffered persecution or violence during the Spanish Civil War, civil w ...

. The two streets bore the names of

José Cruz Conde José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

and

Fernando Suárez de Tangil Fernando Suárez de Tangil y Angulo, 2nd Marquess of Covarrubias de Leyva, 4th Count of Vallellano (3 August 1886 – 6 September 1964) was a Spanish politician who served as Minister of Public Works of Spain between 1951 and 1957, during the F ...

, two members of the

Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera General Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship over Spain began with a coup on 13 September 1923 and ended with his resignation on 28 January 1930. It took place during the wider reign of King Alfonso XIII. In establishing his dictatorship, ...

, the latter of whom also served

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellido, Jose Maria 1977 births Living people People from Córdoba, Spain Politicians from Andalusia Mayors of Córdoba, Spain University of Córdoba (Spain) alumni People's Party (Spain) politicians