José Ángel Biel Rivera (born 1 May 1946) is a Spanish former politician. As a member of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) he was elected to the

Constituent Cortes The Constituent Cortes ( es, Las Cortes Constituyentes) is the description of Spain's parliament, the Cortes, when convened as a constituent assembly. In the 20th century, only one Constituent Cortes was officially opened (Cortes are "opened" in ...

and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 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 ...

. In 1983, he left for the

Aragonese Party The Aragonese Party ( es, Partido Aragonés, PAR) is a political party which advocates the interests of Aragon within Spain. The party was founded in 1978 under the name Aragonese Regionalist Party, but changed its name in 1990, keeping the initia ...

(PAR), of which he was president from 2000 to 2015. He served in the first eight legislatures of the

Cortes of Aragon The Cortes of Aragon ( es, Cortes de Aragón, an, Cortz d'Aragón, ca, Corts d'Aragó) is the regional parliament for the Spanish autonomous community of Aragon. The Cortes traces its history back to meetings summoned by the Kings of Aragon whi ...

from 1983 to 2015, and was the President of the Cortes for the final four years. He was Vice President of the Government of Aragon from 1999 to 2011, in coalition with 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) under

Marcelino Iglesias Marcelino Iglesias Ricou (born 16 April 1951) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. He was the President of the Government of Aragon The president of the Government of Aragon ( es, Presidente del Gobiern ...

Biography

Born in

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel Province. It has a population of 35,675 in 2014 making it the least populated provincial capital in the country. It is noted for its harsh climate, with a ...

, Biel is married and has one daughter. He graduated in Law, becoming a lawyer and a civil servant in the National Institute of Social Security (INSS). He began his political career during the

as a member of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UDC), being elected as a deputy in the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

and to the first

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 ...

. Following the UCD's collapse, Biel joined the

(PAR). He was elected to the

in the first elections in 1983. In

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, he became an advisor in the government of PAR president

Hipólito Gómez de las Roces Hipólito Gómez de las Roces Pinilla ( Nava, Spain, 1932) is a Spanish politician who belongs to the Aragonese Party (PAR) and who previously served as President of the Government of Aragon The president of the Government of Aragon ( es, Pres ...

, retaining his position under successor

Emilio Eiroa Emilio Eiroa García (23 August 1935 – 10 March 2013) was a Spanish politician and lawyer. Eiroa served as the President of the Government of Aragon from 1991 until 1993. He was also one of the founding members of the Aragonese Party. He later ...

four years later. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, the PAR left power as the People's Party (PP) won the election; Biel became his party's spokesman in the Cortes. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, Biel's PAR formed the Aragonese government with

of the

(PSOE) as president and Biel the vice president. This lasted for three legislatures until

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, when the PP won under leader

Luisa Fernanda Rudi Luisa Fernanda Rudi Úbeda (born 14 December 1950) is a Spanish politician currently serving as Senator from Aragón since 2015. She served as the 175th president of the Congress of Deputies, being the first woman to hold the position in Spanis ...

and formed a coalition with the PAR; Biel became President of the Cortes, the

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

. Biel retired from politics before the 2015 election. He announced his plans to retire in December 2013 and said that he would spend his retirement making model boats; he refused to endorse a successor as PAR leader, including the eventual new president

Arturo Aliaga José Arturo Aliaga López (born 12 October 1955) is a Spanish politician from the Aragonese Party The Aragonese Party ( es, Partido Aragonés, PAR) is a political party which advocates the interests of Aragon within Spain. The party was foun ...

. In February 2020, he began hosting a radio show on

Cadena COPE COPE, an acronym for Cadena de Ondas Populares Españolas ("People's Radiowaves of Spain Network") formerly called Radio Popular, is a Spanish language radio station. It is the second most listened to in Spain's generalist radio. Owned by the Spa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biel, Jose Angel 1946 births Living people People from Teruel 20th-century Spanish lawyers Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) politicians Leaders of political parties in Spain Members of the constituent Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 1st Senate of Spain Members of the Cortes of Aragon Presidents of the Cortes of Aragon