José María Barreda Fontes (born 4 February 1953) is a Spanish politician and historian. A member of 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), he served as

President of the Junta of Communities of Castilla–La Mancha The President of the Junta of Communities of Castilla–La Mancha ( es, Presidente de la Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha), usually known in English as the President of Castilla–La Mancha, is the head of government of Castilla–La M ...

from 2004 until 2011. As of 2019, he works as senior lecturer of Contemporary History at the

University of Castilla–La Mancha The University of Castilla–La Mancha (UCLM) is a Spanish university. It offers courses in the cities of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Toledo, Almadén and Talavera de la Reina. This university was recognised by law on 30 June 1982, and began t ...

Biography

Barreda, who was born in

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ; en, "Royal City") is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. History It was founde ...

, is a descendant of a Spanish noble family and holds a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in history and geography and a BA in philosophy and letters from the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

. He received a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

from the

Spanish National Research Council The Spanish National Research Council ( es, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC) is the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain and the third largest in Europe. Its main objective is to develop and promote res ...

to fund his post-doctoral research and is currently a tenured professor of

contemporary history Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is ...

at the

University of Castile-La Mancha A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. Barreda met his wife, Clementina Díez de Baldeón, a socialist

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

for the

Province of Ciudad Real The province of Ciudad Real () is a province in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete, Jaén, Province of Córdoba (Spain), Córdoba, Province of Bada ...

, while still at university; the couple have two children.

Political career

Barreda's first elected position was to the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

of Ciudad Real, a post he held from 1983-1987. During that period, he was the Minister for Education and Culture in the first regional Government of

José Bono José Bono Martínez (born 14 December 1950) is a politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He served as President of the Congress of Deputies during the 9th Legislature. Before that, he was the Minister of Defence of Spain fro ...

. As a Minister, he oversaw the creation of the University of Castile-La Mancha, launched the regional network of libraries, cultural centres, theatres and

auditoria An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

, and organised the conversion of the library at the

Alcázar of Toledo The Alcázar of Toledo ( es, Alcázar de Toledo, ) is a stone fortification located in the highest part of Toledo, Spain. It is a large quadrangular building measuring 60 meters on a side, framed by four large towers 60 meters high, each crowned ...

. Barreda became the regional Minister for Institutional Relations in January 1988; he only held the portfolio for four months, however, as he became the region's vice-president in May of the same year. He served as vice-president until November 1989, when the

Cortes of Castile-La Mancha Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

—the regional parliament—appointed him to be one of the region's two representatives in the

Spanish Senate The Senate ( es, Senado) is the upper house of the Cortes Generales, which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. Th ...

. He returned to Castile-La Mancha in June 1991 to serve as the President of the ''Cortes Regionales''. Barreda remained in the post until July 1997, when he was forced to resign following his appointment as the regional general-secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. Following the 1999 regional elections, Barreda returned to his old post of vice-president of Castile-La Mancha.

President of Castile-La Mancha

In April 2004, after more than 20 years as President of Castile-La Mancha, Bono was named as the Minister of Defence in

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 ...

newly elected

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. Barreda took over from Bono as President of Castile-La Mancha and was his party's candidate in the 2007 regional elections, where he retained his position, albeit with a reduced majority.

References

External links