Francisco Álvarez–Cascos Fernández (born 1 October 1947) is a Spanish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. He was

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the ruling Partido Popular from 1989 to 1999 and the

President of the Principality of Asturias The President of the Principality of Asturias ( es, Presidente del Principado de Asturias); ast, Presidente del Principáu d'Asturies) is the head of government of the Spanish autonomous community of Asturias. The president is chosen by the Gene ...

from 2011 to 2012. He studied civil engineering, and after working in an architect office and then for an architects association for a few years, he soon became a professional politician. In 1976 he joined Reforma Democrática, which later merged into Alianza Popular, both

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

-wing

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

. He was the

spokesman A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for the

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...

Council between 1979 and 1986, a county councilor and a member of the regional Pre-Autonomous Body. In 1982, after Alianza Popular merged into the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

People's Party, he was elected senator for

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

, a position which he combined with that of spokesman for the People's Party

Parliamentary Group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamenta ...

in the General Junta of the Principate of Asturias (Asturias' regional

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

) from 1983 onwards. In 1986 he was elected deputy for

and was re-elected in 1989, 1993, 1996 and 2000. At the 9th National Congress of the People's Party, he was elected

. He was confirmed three times in this office at the national congresses of the PP which took place in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

(1990) and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

(1993 and 1996). He was First

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

of the Government and Minister of the Presidency for the 1996-2000 term, and Minister for Development for the 2000-2004 term. In 2004, he resigned from Congress and left

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

for a few years.

President of Asturias

In 2009, a sector of the party began to ask him to become PP's candidate for President of Asturias, organizing meetings and a campaign for his nomination. The regional party leadership led by Gabino de Lorenzo rejected him as a candidate and insulted him since he wanted to fire many of the people in charge in the party for decades losing election after election. The national leader

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 ...

declined to support him against the attacks within his party, so he resigned from the party. In May 2011 he managed in just five months to create a new party

Asturian Forum Asturias Forum ( es, Foro Asturias, ast, Foru Asturies, Foro), previously known as Forum of Citizens ( es, Foro de Ciudadanos, FAC) is a regionalist political party in the Principality of Asturias. History Asturias Forum was founded in January 2 ...

, which obtained a plurality of 16 out of the 45 seats in the Asturian autonomous parliament. He was inaugurated as President of Asturias. After six months of minority government and the PP and PSOE (which together had an absolute majority of seats) declining every bill, his regional budget for 2012 was rejected. This blocked situation forced him to resign on 30 January 2012 and call for new elections to be held on 25 March. Asturian Forum lost 4 seats, ending up second behind the Socialist Party.

Bárcenas affair

As part of the

Bárcenas affair The Bárcenas affair is a corruption scandal in Spain that affects the conservative People's Party (PP), one of the country's main political parties. Following revelations that Luis Bárcenas, who served as party treasurer and senator, held 48 m ...

, it was revealed that Francisco Álvarez Cascos received 421,693 euros of cash from the Popular Party between 1990 and 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez-Cascos, Francisco 1947 births Presidents of the Principality of Asturias Living people People from Madrid People from Asturias Government ministers of Spain People's Party (Spain) politicians Members of the 3rd Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 4th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 5th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 6th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 7th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Polytechnic University of Madrid alumni Deputy Prime Ministers of Spain Spanish civil engineers