Miguel Herrero y Rodríguez de Miñón (born 18 June 1940) is a Spanish jurist and politician. A member of the Union of the Democratic Centre until 1982, then 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 ( ...

and its successor, the People's Party, he is one of the " Fathers of the Constitution", the seven legislators who participating in the draft of the Spanish constitutional text passed in 1978.

Ideology

Self-described as an "''españolista de la España Grande''" (roughly "spanishist of the Great Spain"), Herrero de Miñón has been placed as representative of a fringe strand of

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

advocate of neo foralism within the Spanish conservative spectrum.

University education: legal and philosophical

Son of high school professor and hispanist Miguel Herrero García, he studied law in Madrid, where, as he says in his Memoirs of Summer, he was "more studious than a student". After graduating in 1961, he earned his doctorate in 1965 with a thesis on the Constitutional Law that emerged after decolonization. He completed his training at

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, in

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and in Louvain, where he graduated in

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

in 1968. A lawyer with the Council of State since 1966, he soon began to collaborate with the press -Diario Ya, Diario Madrid, Informaciones-, spreading his ideas about what the transition to the death of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

should be. In 1975, he married Cristina Jáuregui Segurola, daughter of Ramón Jáuregui Epalza and M.ª Luisa Segurola Guereca. They remained married until her death from an unspecified illness in 2015.

Political Activity

Rodríguez de Miñón was Technical Secretary General of the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, collaborating very actively in the first amnesty (1976), in the Law for Political Reform and in the first electoral regulations of the newborn democracy. He participated in the drafting of the 1978 Constitution and held the position of spokesman 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 ...

, both for the governing party (UCD) and the opposition (AP). He was a deputy for the UCD from 1977 to 1981. Some authors have identified him as one of the architects of the "harassment and demolition operation" against

Adolfo Suárez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected Prime Minister of Spain, prime minister since the Second Spanish Republi ...

, which reportedly ended with his being crowned head of the UCD parliamentary group. Herrero de Miñón also reportedly maintained contacts with political leaders of the opposition with the aim of removing Suárez from power. He left UCD in February 1982 and joined Alianza Popular in July of that year. He was also elected as an AP and PP deputy in the 1982, 1986 and 1989 elections. In 1979, he was elected councillor of the

Madrid City Council 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; ...

in the April municipal elections. In 1987, he ran for President of Alianza Popular, but was defeated by Antonio Hernández Mancha.

Decorations and awards

* Great Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...

(1978) * "Friend of the Basques" Award (1998) *

Creu de Sant Jordi The Creu de Sant Jordi (, in English language, English 'St George's Cross') is one of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Catalonia (Spain), surpassed only in protocol by the Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Gold Medal of the G ...

(2000) * Collar of the

Order of Civil Merit The Royal Order of Civil Merit (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OMC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and the Order ...

(2003) *Doctor honorary /hon./

Universidad de Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821, the UBA has educa ...

(UBA) (2017) *Doctor honorary /hon./

Universidad Pontificia Comillas Comillas Pontifical University () is a private Catholic university run by the Spanish Province of the Society of Jesus in Madrid, Spain. The university is involved in a number of academic exchange programmes, work practice schemes and internatio ...

(2018)

References

;Informational notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrero Rodriguez de Minon, Miguel 1940 births People's Party (Spain) politicians Living people Madrid city councillors (1979–1983) Spanish nationalists