José Montilla Aguilera (; born 15 January 1955 in Iznájar,

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 ...

, Spain) is a Spanish politician who is currently a member of the

Spanish Senate The Senate () is the upper house of the , which along with the Congress of Deputies – the Lower house, lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palacio del Senado, Palace of the Senate in Madri ...

. He was the 128th President of Generalitat de Catalunya. He became the First Secretary of the

Socialists' Party of Catalonia The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (, PSC–PSOE) is a social democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Catalonia–Regrouping, led by Josep Pallach i Carolà, the Socia ...

on 18 June 2000, and a member of the Federal Executive Committee and the Federal Committee 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) on 23 July 2000. He served as Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade in the government of

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. O ...

from 18 April 2004 until 9 September 2006. He is married and has five children. On 29 November 2010 he announced he would not stand again for the post of First Secretary of the PSC due to his party's having obtained its worst-ever results in the 2010 election.

Childhood and youth (1955–1978)

At the age of sixteen, he moved from his native

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

and settled in Sant Joan Despí. His higher education began with vocational training, but later he studied Law for one year and Economics for two years at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

. He himself has said that he gave up his university career as he was working and studying at the same time.

Local politics (1978–2004)

Having joined the

in 1978, two years later he became a member of the party's National Council. At the age of 25, he was appointed Deputy mayor for Local Taxation in Sant Joan Despí, where he was also the spokesman of the Socialist group on the council. Subsequently, between 1985 and April 2004, he was mayor of

Cornellà de Llobregat Cornellà de Llobregat (; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Baix Llobregat in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the left bank of the Llobregat River. It is in the south-western part of ...

. In the 1999 elections and again in 2003 he was re-elected with an absolute majority. In 1988, after the creation of the Consells Comarcals (District Councils), he was elected president of the District Council of Baix Llobregat, a post he occupied until late 1997. He became a member of the Diputació de Barcelona ( Provincial Council) in 1983 as Provincial Deputy for Public Works. In 1987, he was appointed second vice-president of the Diputació and in 1991 he became delegate president for Agriculture and the Environment, a post to which he was appointed again in 1995. In 1999, he was appointed First Vice-president, and he was President of the Diputació from 1 July 2003. In 1994, he was elected Secretary for Organization of his party, and he became First Secretary of the party on 18 June 2000.

Minister (2004–2006)

After the 2003 election to the

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as Deputy (legislator), deput ...

and the constitution of the "Tripartite Government" of the

(PSC),

Republican Left of Catalonia The Republican Left of Catalonia (, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in Valencia, the Balearic Islands and t ...

(ERC) and

Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds Initiative for Catalonia Greens (, ICV; ) was an eco-socialism, eco-socialist List of political parties in Catalonia, political party in Catalonia. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance l ...

(ICV) and his appointment as a central government minister in 2004, he became the PSC strong-man in the central government in Madrid, sitting in the national parliament as deputy for Barcelona district from 2004 to 2006. His appointment in April 2004 as minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism meant he resigned all his posts in the local administration. He combined his work as minister with the post of First Secretary of the PSC and member of the Federal Executive of the

(PSOE).

Return to Catalan politics

After Pasqual Maragall announced that he would not stand again as candidate for president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the National Committee of the PSC elected him as candidate for the presidency of Catalonia in the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

of 1 November 2006. In these elections no party obtained an absolute majority, and the PSC won only the second-largest number of seats after

Convergence and Union Convergence and Union (, CiU; ) was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller counterpart, the Democratic ...

(CiU); however, the PSC again reached an agreement with ERC and

Iniciativa per Catalunya Initiative for Catalonia Greens (, ICV; ) was an eco-socialist political party in Catalonia. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was ...

to form a coalition government, with Montilla at its head. He officially took office as president on Tuesday, 28 November 2006, and he was the first President of the Generalitat in modern times to have been born outside Catalonia. The PSC was defeated in the election held on 28 November 2010, but Montilla remained in office until his successor was elected by the new parliament. In the wake of this defeat, he also announced that he would not stand again as First Secretary of the PSC at the party's next congress. Later, he further announced that he would not lead the opposition in the new parliament, and indeed would not take up his seat.

Other activities

Enagás Enagás, S.A. (, originally an initialism for ) is a Spanish energy company and European transmission system operator (TSO), which owns and operates the nation's gas grid. The firm also owns four liquefied natural gas regasification terminal ...

, Independent Member of the Board of DirectorsBoard of Directors

References

External links

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montilla, Jose 1955 births Living people People from the Province of Córdoba (Spain) People from Sant Joan Despí Socialists' Party of Catalonia politicians First secretaries of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia Presidents of the Government of Catalonia Members of the 8th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Government ministers of Spain Mayors of places in Catalonia