Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Bajón (born 1964), often going by the MAR acronym, is a Spanish politician, publicist, media consultant and journalist.

Biography

He was born in 1964 in

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

. A young journalist writing for the ''

El Norte de Castilla ''El Norte de Castilla'' ("The North of Castile") is a Spanish-language daily newspaper based in Valladolid, Spain. After ''Faro de Vigo'', founded in 1853, ''El Norte de Castilla'' is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the country, tracing its ...

'', the "Bachiller" (as Miguel Ángel Rodríguez was sometimes known for his lack of higher studies) met

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spain. A member of the Fre ...

(then bidding for the presidency of the Junta of Castile and León) in the

campaign bus A campaign bus (battle bus in the UK) is a bus used as both a vehicle and a center of operations during a political campaign, whether for a specific candidate, a political party, or a political cause. A campaign bus can also transport members of ...

before the

1987 Castilian-Leonese regional election The 1987 Castilian-Leonese regional election was held on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 2nd Cortes of the autonomous community of Castile and León. All 84 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with ...

. Following the election, Aznar, who was invested regional president, appointed Rodríguez as Spokesperson of the

Junta of Castile and León The Junta of Castile and León ( es, Junta de Castilla y León; JCyL) is the governing and administrative body of the Spanish autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat auto ...

; Rodríguez served for the 1987–1989 spell during which Aznar presided the regional government. During his mandate as Spokesperson of the regional government in Castile and León, he reportedly elaborated a

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

of journalists, compiling political, personal and professional assessments on 12 journalists. He has been mentioned as a core member of the so-called "Clan of Valladolid", a circle of people around Aznar, that eventually got to lead the People's Party (PP) from Génova Street, holding top posts during the years of Aznar in

La Moncloa The Palace of Moncloa or Moncloa Palace ( es, Palacio de la Moncloa) is the official residence and workplace of the Prime Minister of Spain. It is located in Puerta de Hierro Avenue, in the Moncloa-Aravaca district in Madrid. It has been the off ...

as Prime Minister. He followed Aznar after the later was designated as successor of

Manuel Fraga Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician in Francoist Spain, who was also the founder of the People's Party. Fraga was Minister of Information and Tourism between 1962 and 1969, Ambas ...

at the helm of the newly created PP, as was hired as the Aznar's

director of communications Director of communications is a position in both the private and public sectors. A director of communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. Directors of communications supervis ...

in 1990. He ran 12th in the PP's list 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 ...

for the 1996 Congressional election. Elected, he served as member of the Lower House for less than two months. Following the investiture of Aznar as Prime Minister, he renounced to his seat and was appointed to the dual post of Secretary of State for Communication and Spokesperson of the Government in the Aznar government. He left the Government in July 1998 citing "personal reasons", and was replaced as Spokesperson of the Government by

Josep Piqué Josep Piqué i Camps (born 21 February 1955 in Vilanova i la Geltrú) is a Spanish politician of the right-leaning Spanish People's Party (PP) who represented Barcelona. Pique was initially a member of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSU ...

. He then started a career in the private sector in the fields of advertising and media. In April 2011 the Provincial Audience of Madrid sentenced Rodríguez to pay a €30,000 fine after Rodríguez called Dr.

Luis Montes Luis Arturo Montes Jiménez (born 15 May 1986), also known as Chapito, is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chilean Primera División club Everton. Club career Montes started his career playing for Pachuca's youth ...

a "nazi" and accused him of "killing people without their permission"; the sentence was ratified in November 2011. In 2019, PP's

Isabel Díaz Ayuso Isabel Natividad Díaz Ayuso (; born 17 October 1978) is a Spanish politician and journalist serving as the president of the Community of Madrid since 2019. She is the president of the People's Party (Spain), People's Party of Madrid. A member ...

hired MAR as consultant vis-à-vis the campaign for the

2019 Madrilenian regional election The 2019 Madrilenian regional election was held on Sunday, 26 May 2019, to elect the 11th Assembly of the Community of Madrid. All 132 seats in the Assembly were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in elev ...

. In January 2020, months after the investiture of Díaz Ayuso as regional president, she appointed Miguel Ángel Rodríguez as Chief of Staff, reportedly to the despair of her vice-president

Ignacio Aguado Ignacio Jesús Aguado Crespo (born 23 February 1983) is a Spanish lawyer and politician from Citizens (Cs), serving as the party's spokesman in the Assembly of Madrid The Assembly of Madrid or Madrid Assembly ( es, Asamblea de Madrid) is the ...

, whom Miguel Ángel Rodríguez had previously dubbed as "the disloyal one".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez Bajon, Miguel Angel 1964 births Living people Government ministers of Spain Members of the 6th Congress of Deputies (Spain) People's Party (Spain) politicians Public relations people Spanish male journalists