Jesús Aparicio-Bernal Sánchez (June 15, 1929 – June 19, 2024) was a Spanish

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who began his career under the

Francoist State Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of History of Spain, Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . ...

Biography

Having read jurisdiction at university, Aparicio-Bernal became a representative (''procurador'') to the

Cortes Generales The (; ) are the Bicameralism, bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house) and the Senate of Spain, Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, ...

during the Francoist era, first as a trade union representative in 1955, 1958, and 1961, and for

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

between 1967 and 1977. He was also the national director of the Sindicato Español Universitario (SEU), the university syndicate of the Spanish Falange movement, from 1957 to February 1962.

Rodolfo Martín Villa Rodolfo Martín Villa (born 3 October 1934) is a Spanish engineer and politician, who served in various capacities in the cabinets of the Spanish transition to democracy, including interior minister and first deputy prime minister. He was under ...

succeeded him in the post. In 1963, Aparicio-Bernal was designated as president of the Sindicato Nacional de Prensa y Gráficas. On 26 March 1964, Manuel Fraga Iribarne, then Minister for Information and Tourism, appointed him as the Director General of Radio Difusión y Televisión, a position equivalent to the current

Chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española. In this capacity, on 18 July of the same year, Aparicio-Bernal ordered the creation of

Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in Equatorial Guinea. T ...

studios at Prado del Rey 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 ...

, the current central headquarters of the corporation. As an adjunct professor, he also taught business law at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

. Aparicio-Bernal identifies as a

secular humanist Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system, or life stance that embraces human reason, logic, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism, while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basi ...

and an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and is strongly critical of religion.

References

1929 births 2024 deaths Politicians from Madrid Members of the Cortes Españolas Spanish atheists Spanish humanists Secular humanists Critics of religions Academic staff of the Complutense University of Madrid {{Valencia-politician-stub