Ramón Espinar Gallego (born 1954) is a Spanish former politician. A member of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE) politician, he was the mayor of

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popu ...

in the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

, and a member of the

Assembly of Madrid The Assembly of Madrid or Madrid Assembly () is the Unicameralism, unicameral autonomous legislature of the Autonomous Community of Madrid since the approval of the Madrid Charter of Autonomy in 1983. It is elected every four years during the S ...

from 1983 to 1995, serving as its

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

from 1983 to 1987. He was the regional minister of culture (1987–1991) and finance (1991–1995). In 1995, he was named an advisor at

Caja Madrid Caja Madrid, formally the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid, headquartered in Madrid,Inicio
." ...

, and was sentenced to one year in prison in 2017 for his involvement in a credit card scandal.

Biography

Born in

Úbeda Úbeda () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the Province of Jaén (Spain), province of Jaén, Andalusia. The town lies on the southern ridge of the so-called Loma de Úbeda, a Table (landform), table sandwiched in bet ...

in the Province of Jaén,

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, Espinar moved to

in the

at the age of 20 in 1975; the

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

experienced a lot of inwards migration from Andalusia,

Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...

and

Castilla–La Mancha Castilla–La Mancha (, ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Comprising the provinces of Province of Albacete, Albacete, Province of Ciudad Real, Ciudad Real, Province of Cuenca, Cuenca, Province of Guadalajar ...

at the time. In 1978, he was told by the

(PSOE) that he would be the candidate for mayor in the first democratic elections the following year. He was elected as the youngest mayor in the country, holding 14 seats in the city council, ten more than the second-placed Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD). Espinar's administration set aside space for a university, which was eventually filled by a campus of the

Charles III University of Madrid University Charles III of Madrid () (UC3M) is a public university in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Established in 1989, UC3M is an institution with a distinctly international profile. It offers a broad range of master's and bachelor's degree p ...

, and built a hospital. After extending his absolute majority in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, he was elected to the new

in the same year, becoming its first

. In 1987 he was named the region's minister for culture, and four years later its minister of finance, in the governments of

President of the Community of Madrid The president of the Community of Madrid is the highest-ranking officer of the Autonomous Community of Madrid and the head of the executive branch. The office is currently held by Isabel Díaz Ayuso of the People's Party. Origins and election ...

, Joaquín Leguina. Espinar left politics in 1995, being named by the PSOE as an advisor to the

Caja Madrid Caja Madrid, formally the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid, headquartered in Madrid,Inicio
." ...

savings bank In February 2017, the

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; ) is a high court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in certain kinds of crime, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those committed against the Crown and i ...

sentenced him to a year in prison for his part in the "black cards" scandal, in which he used company credit cards to spend €178,400 on personal spending from 1995 to 2010. Espinar's son, Ramón Espinar Merino (born 1986), served in the Assembly of Madrid and as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for Podemos from 2015 to 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espinar Gallego, Ramon 1954 births Living people People from Úbeda People from Leganés Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Mayors of places in the Community of Madrid Members of the 1st Assembly of Madrid Members of the 2nd Assembly of Madrid Members of the 3rd Assembly of Madrid Presidents of the Assembly of Madrid Spanish politicians convicted of crimes