Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Bajón (born 1964), often going by the MAR acronym, is a Spanish politician, publicist, media consultant and journalist.

Biography

He was born in 1964 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 ...

. A young journalist writing for the ''

El Norte de Castilla ''El Norte de Castilla'' () is a Spanish-language daily newspaper based in Valladolid, Spain. After ''Faro de Vigo'', founded in 1853, ''El Norte de Castilla'' is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the country, tracing its origins to 1854. The ...

'', the "Bachiller" (as Miguel Ángel Rodríguez was sometimes known for his lack of higher studies) met

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 ...

(then bidding for the presidency of the Junta of Castile and León) in the

campaign bus A campaign bus (also referred to as a battle bus in the UK) is a bus used as both a vehicle and a center of operations during a political campaign, whether for a specific candidate, a political party, or a political cause. A campaign bus can als ...

before the

1987 Castilian-Leonese regional election A regional election was held in Castile and León on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 2nd Cortes of Castile and León, Cortes of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community. All 84 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The e ...

. Following the election, Aznar, who was invested regional president, appointed Rodríguez as Spokesperson of the Junta of Castile and León; Rodríguez served for the 1987–1989 spell during which Aznar presided the regional government. During his mandate as Spokesperson of the regional government in Castile and León, he reportedly elaborated a

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

of journalists, compiling political, personal and professional assessments on 12 journalists. He has been mentioned as a core member of the so-called "Clan of Valladolid", a circle of people around Aznar, that eventually got to lead the People's Party (PP) from Génova Street, holding top posts during the years of Aznar in La Moncloa as Prime Minister. He followed Aznar after the later was designated as successor of

Manuel Fraga Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who was also one of the founders of the People's Alliance (Spain), People's Alliance (AP). Fraga ...

at the helm of the newly created PP, as was hired as the Aznar's

director of communications Director of communications is a position in both the private and public sectors. A director of communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. Directors of communications supervis ...

in 1990. He ran 12th in the PP's list in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

for the 1996 Congressional election. Elected, he served as member of the Lower House for less than two months. Following the investiture of Aznar as Prime Minister, he renounced to his seat and was appointed to the dual post of

Secretary of State for Press The Secretary of State for Press, also known as Secretary of State for Communication (SECOM) is a high-ranking official of the Office of the Spanish Prime Minister in charge of the government's communication policy. This position must not to be ...

and Spokesperson of the Government in the Aznar government. He left the Government in July 1998 citing "personal reasons", and was replaced as Spokesperson of the Government by

Josep Piqué Josep Piqué Camps (21 February 1955 – 6 April 2023) was a Spanish politician of the conservative People's Party (PP). He served in ministerial departments under the José María Aznar government. He also helmed the People's Party of Catalo ...

. He then started a career in the private sector in the fields of advertising and media. In April 2011 the Provincial Audience of Madrid sentenced Rodríguez to pay a €30,000 fine after Rodríguez called Dr. Luis Montes a "nazi" and accused him of "killing people without their permission"; the sentence was ratified in November 2011. In 2019, PP's

Isabel Díaz Ayuso Isabel Natividad Díaz Ayuso (; born 17 October 1978) is a Spanish politician and journalist serving as the president of the Community of Madrid since 2019. She is also the president of the People's Party of the Community of Madrid since 2022 ...

hired MAR as consultant vis-à-vis the campaign for the

2019 Madrilenian regional election The 2019 Madrilenian regional election was held on Sunday, 26 May 2019, to elect the 11th Assembly of Madrid, Assembly of the Community of Madrid. All 132 seats in the Assembly were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with 2019 S ...

. In January 2020, months after the investiture of Díaz Ayuso as regional president, she appointed Miguel Ángel Rodríguez as Chief of Staff, reportedly to the despair of her vice-president

Ignacio Aguado Ignacio Jesús Aguado Crespo (born 23 February 1983) is a Spanish lawyer and politician from Citizens (Spanish political party), Citizens (Cs), serving as the party's spokesman in the Assembly of Madrid and as Government of the Community of Madr ...

, whom Miguel Ángel Rodríguez had previously dubbed as "the disloyal one".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez Bajon, Miguel Angel 1964 births Living people Government ministers of Spain Members of the 6th Congress of Deputies (Spain) People's Party (Spain) politicians Public relations people Spanish male journalists People from Valladolid