José Luis Centella Gómez (born 1958) is a

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain (; PCE) is a communist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is currently part of Sumar. Two of its politicians are Spanish government ministers: Yolanda Díaz (Minister of L ...

(PCE) politician. He served in the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

from 1995 to 2004 and 2011 to 2015. He was his party's secretary general from 2009 to 2018, subsequently becoming its president.

Biography

Born in

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, Centella became a teacher and was elected to the town council in

Benalmádena Benalmádena () is a town in Andalusia in southern Spain, 12 km west of Málaga, on the Costa del Sol between Torremolinos and Fuengirola. Benalmádena is rich in attractive beaches and interesting places like the Colomares Castle, the 33-me ...

in 1987. In 1995, he became a member of the

representing

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, succeeding Antonio Romero Ruiz who was running for mayor. In October 1996, he sent 1,373 pesetas (less than €10) to prime minister

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...

in protest at government spending for the

province of Málaga The province of Málaga ( ) is located in Andalusia, Spain. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and by the provinces of Cádiz to the west, Seville to the northwest, Córdoba to the north, and Granada to the east. The province ...

; the amount was what Centella estimated to be the government's spend per person in the province. During his time on congressional commissions, Centella spoke on issues such as the olive and fishing industries, recovering the works of

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and Cuba–Spain relations. A critic of

Jesús Gil Gregorio Jesús Gil y Gil (12 March 1933 – 14 May 2004) was a Spanish businessman and politician. He served as Mayor of Marbella between 1991 and 2002, and presided for a 16-year tenure as president of the football club Atlético de Madrid ...

, the right-wing mayor of

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

, he successfully campaigned for an audit of Gil's city council, as well as an investigation into the finances of

Seville Expo '92 The Universal Exhibition of Seville 1992 – Expo '92 (officially: ) was a universal exhibition held from Monday 20 April to Monday 12 October 1992, at the , in Seville, Spain. The theme for the expo was "The Age of Discoveries", celebrating the ...

. He succeeded Felipe Alcaraz as secretary general of the

Communist Party of Andalusia The Communist Party of Andalusia (in Spanish: ''Partido Comunista de Andalucía'') is the federation of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) in Andalusia. History PCA was founded in 1979, as the Andalusian branch of PCE was converted into a regional ...

in 2002, and lost his seat in congress in the

2004 election The following elections occurred in the year 2004. Africa * 2004 Algerian presidential election * 2004 Botswana general election * 2004 Cameroonian presidential election * 2004 Comorian legislative election * 2004 Equatorial Guinean legislativ ...

. In November 2009, he succeeded Francisco Frutos as secretary general of the PCE, by unanimous vote. Centella returned to the Congress of Deputies in the 2011 election, as the leader of the United Left (UI) in the Seville constituency. He did not stand for re-election in 2015, and in 2018 he was succeeded as secretary general of the PCE by Enrique Santiago, moving into the party's new office of president.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Centella, Jose Luis 1958 births Living people People from Córdoba, Spain Politicians from Andalusia Municipal councillors in the province of Málaga Communist Party of Spain politicians Leaders of political parties in Spain Members of the 5th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 6th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 7th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 10th Congress of Deputies (Spain)