Javier Vicente Santamaría Herranz (5 April 1951 – 13 April 2020) was a Spanish People's Party (PP) politician, president of the province of Segovia between 2003 and 2011 and member of the Senate between 2011 and 2015.

Biography and career

Javier Santamaría was born in Abades,

province of Segovia Segovia () is a province of central/northern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the province of Burgos in the north, Soria in the northeast, Guadalajara in the east, Madrid in the south, ...

on 5 April 1951 the son of two local school teachers. His political career began in 1991 when he was elected mayor of his hometown for the PP, office he held until 1996 to take charge of the Territorial Delegation of the

Junta of Castile and León Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by a ...

. He had previously worked as a Maths teacher at the IES Giner de los Ríos in

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...

. In 2003 he was elected president of the Segovia Provincial Deputation, and until 2011, when he returned to teach Maths at the same school he had left 15 years earlier. That same year he was elected

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

for the Segovia constituency in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

and retired from politics when in the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

he no longer repeated the office. On 15 November 2013, the Court of Instruction number 2 of Segovia, at the request of the prosecution, he was charged along with the other former members of the board of the

Savings bank A savings bank is a financial institution that is not run on a profit-maximizing basis, and whose original or primary purpose is collecting deposits on savings accounts that are invested on a low-risk basis and receive interest. Savings banks ha ...

Caja Segovia for the case of millionaire compensation and early retirement of directors. In June 2016, the case was dismissed as the judge did not see any evidence of a crime.

Personal life and death

He married Pilar, with whom she had two children, and had three grandchildren. Santamaría was admitted to the

health care complex on 19 March 2020, affected by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the pandemic in Spain. Afterwards he was transferred to the ICU 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 pr ...

, where he died a month later, on 13 April at the age of 69 after failing to overcome the disease.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santamaria, Javier 1951 births 2020 deaths People from the Province of Segovia 20th-century Spanish politicians 21st-century Spanish politicians Politicians from Castile and León Mayors of places in Castile and León Members of the Senate of Spain People's Party (Spain) politicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain