José Blanco López (born 6 February 1962), also known as Pepe Blanco, is a Spanish socialist politician. He was the deputy general 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 go ...

(PSOE) and was the

Minister of Public Works and Transport The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA) ( es, Ministerio de Transportes, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana), traditionally known as the Ministry of Development (MFOM), is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for pr ...

from 2009 to 2011.

Political career

Blanco López began his political career in 1986 when he was elected to the Spanish Senate. In 1996 he was elected to the Spanish Congress as a deputy for Lugo Province and was re-elected in 2000, 2004 and 2008. He is a trustee of th
Fundacion IDEAS
Spain's Socialist Party's think tank. Blanco López was appointed Minister of Public Works and Transport in a cabinet reshuffle on 7 April 2009, replacing

Magdalena Álvarez Magdalena Álvarez Arza is a Spanish Politician, who from 2004 to 2009 served as Minister of Public Works (Fomento). She was born in San Fernando, in the Province of Cádiz, on 15 February 1952. She is an MP for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Par ...

. On July 11, 2011 he was appointed spokesperson of the government without losing previous duties.

Controversy

On 28 December 2011 Spain's Supreme Court opened a probe into Blanco López's conduct on charges of influence peddling and accepting bribes. In 2013, the

Spanish Supreme Court The Supreme Court ('', TS'') is the highest court in the Kingdom of Spain. Originally established pursuant to Title V of the Constitution of 1812 to replace —in all matters that affected justice— the System of Councils, and currently regula ...

dismissed the case against him for those charges. In 2011, José Blanco received the Grand Cross of the Order of Carlos III from the new Prime Minister,

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 le ...

Other activities

* Enagás, Independent Member of the Board of DirectorsBoard of Directors
� Enagás.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanco Lopez, Jose 1962 births Living people People from Lugo Members of the 6th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 7th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 8th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 9th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Government ministers of Spain MEPs for Spain 2014–2019 Public works ministers of Spain