Ángel Matanzo España ( – 5 March 2017) was a Spanish butcher and politician, city councillor of Madrid between 1983 and 1995.

Biography

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

circa 1937, to a humble family, son of a butcher (father) and a greengrocer (mother), Matanzo managed a butcher's shop. A member of

People's Alliance People's Alliance may refer to: * People's Alliance ( ''Volksunie''), Belgian political party which split in 2001 into the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie and Spirit * People's Alliance (Bulgaria), a Bulgarian party from 1921 to 1923 * People's Alliance ( ...

since 1977 he was elected to the

City Council of Madrid The City Council of Madrid () is the top-tier administrative and governing body of Madrid, the capital and biggest city of Spain. The city council is composed by three bodies: the mayor, who leads the city council and the executive branch of it; ...

for the first time in the 1983 municipal election. Re-elected in the 1987 election, after the 1989 successful motion of no confidence against the then Mayor, Juan Barranco, who was replaced by

Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún (Ávila, Spain, Ávila, 27 March 1932 – Paris, 13 October 1991) was a Spanish politician and businessman as well as being a doctor in economics and law who was best known as being the mayor of Madrid from 1989 to 1 ...

, Matanzo became the city councillor responsible for the

Centro District Centro District is located in the Valles Centrales Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. The district includes the state capital Oaxaca and satellite towns. The district has an average elevation of 1,550 meters. The climate is mild, with averag ...

. During a controversial rule, he became singularly known by his

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

measures; closing down stores and launching '' razzias'' against street vending. Matanzo was sacked from the municipal government board by the Mayor

José María Álvarez del Manzano José María Álvarez del Manzano y López del Hierro (born 17 October 1937) is a Spanish politician for the People's Party. Although born in Seville he has lived in Madrid since he was 3 years old. He studied at the Jesuit Colegio Nuestra Se� ...

in 1993, after a clash with the Culture's councillor Pedro Ortiz, since Matanzo had decreed the shutting of the Teatro Alfil, as it was the premises where a theatrical play, ''Cabaret Castizo'', was being aired since 5 January. The Eduardo Fuente's play, starred three characters: a talking bear, an

arbutus ''Arbutus'' is a genus of 12 accepted speciesAct. Bot. Mex no.99 Pátzcuaro abr. 2012.''Arbutus bicolor''/ref> of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, the Canary Islands a ...

, and a

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

(performed by

Chete Lera Ramón Mariano Fernández Lera (1949–2022), better known as Chete Lera, was a Spanish actor. With a long on-screen career in addition to a stage career, he featured in films such as ''The Red Squirrel'', ''Secrets of the Heart (film), Secrets ...

) making the latter a parody out of Matanzo. He was replaced as responsible for the Centro District by María Antonia Suárez. After two years in political ostracism, during which he was degraded to the (unmeaningful) role of "Mayor's provisions consultant", Matanzo left the People's Party in 1995. Matanzo would then get involved in several political initiatives: he joined the Dr. Alfonso Cabezas's Platform of the Independents of Spain (PIE) in 1995, running first in the PIE list for the May 1995 municipal election. In 1997 he became a member of the national council of the

Spanish Democratic Party The Spanish Democratic Party (; PADE) was a conservative political party in Spain, created as a split from the centre-right People's Party in 1996. Its chairman was Juan Ramón Calero Rodríguez, former PP spokesperson in Congress. Ideology It ...

(PADE), led by the also former PP politician

Juan Ramón Calero ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philipp ...

. He ran again as candidate in the 1999 municipal election, leading the list of the far-right Alianza por la Unidad Nacional, founded by

Ricardo Sáenz de Ynestrillas Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira (born 19 ...

. He died on 5 March 2017 in

Pozuelo de Alarcón Pozuelo de Alarcón () is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Bordering the Moncloa-Aravaca district of Madrid proper to its west, Pozuelo de Alarcón is surrounded by large Mediterranean pine-tree forests: the Casa de Campo, the M ...

Matanzo in popular culture

Matanzo is mentioned by one of the characters of the novel '' Historias del Kronen'' (on which the 1995 namesake film is based) by Spanish author

José Ángel Mañas José Ángel Mañas (Madrid, 22 October 1971) is a Spanish writer. Mañas is often included as a member of the generation of neorealist Spanish writers from the 1990s, along with Juan Gracia, Gabriela Bustelo, Ray Loriga and Lucía Etxebarria. ...

. The character alludes to the trouble coming up with ways to obtain recreational drugs: "nowadays things are very bleak, particularly since Matanzo is

round Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere * Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number * Round number, ending with one or more zeroes * Round (crypt ...

.. We are becoming more European by the time..." (''ahora que están las cosas muy chungas, sobre todo desde que está el Matanzo... Cada vez somos más europeos'').

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matanzo, Angel 1930s births 2017 deaths Madrid city councillors (1983–1987) Madrid city councillors (1987–1991) Madrid city councillors (1991–1995)