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Alberto Fernández Díaz

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Alberto Fernández Díaz (born 12 December 1961)[1] is a Spanish former politician of the People's Party (PP). He was a member of the City Council of Barcelona from 1987 to 1999 and again from 2003 to 2019, and led his party in the Parliament of Catalonia between his two mandates.

Biography

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Fernández Díaz was born in Barcelona as the eighth of ten children of a military father. His older brother Jorge was also a People's Party politician who served as minister of the interior from 2011 to 2016.[2] Fernández Díaz graduated in law from the University of Barcelona in 1986 and practiced as a lawyer until 1996.[3]

In 1980, Fernández Díaz joined the People's Party of Catalonia (PPC).[3] He was first elected to the City Council of Barcelona in 1987 for the then People's Alliance (AP).[4] He was the party's lead candidate in the 1999 Catalan regional election, in which he accused incumbent president Jordi Pujol of extreme Catalan nationalism.[5] He was congratulated by the party's national secretary general Javier Arenas for promoting bilingualism by challenging Pujol in Spanish on the Catalan language television channel TV3.[6] The party fell by five seats to 12 and lost 125,000 votes compared to 1995.[7] Nonetheless, the PP gave confidence and supply in order to allow Pujol's right-leaning Convergence and Union (CiU) to govern.[8]

Fernández Díaz returned to municipal politics in 2003 as the PP candidate for mayor of Barcelona. He was assaulted in Reus during the campaign, by demonstrators angry with his party's involvement in the Iraq War.[9] He was candidate again in 2007 and 2011, achieving the party's best-ever result of nine seats in the latter. This figure rose from an initial eight due to an appeal to the Supreme Court of Spain and the Constitutional Court of Spain over 57 voting forms previously counted as spoilt votes.[10]

In 2015, the party fell to three seats on the council while Citizens grew.[11] In December 2018, with opinion polling suggesting that the PP could be wiped off the council, he announced that he would not stand again next year.[4]

Fernández Díaz married in 1992 and had three children as of 2018.[3] A motorcycle enthusiast, he unsuccessfully proposed for the vehicle to be allowed to use Barcelona's cycle lanes.[4] A fan of RCD Espanyol, he called out the local public television channel betevé in 2019 for a programme attacking the club's fans as drug addicts and thieves. The show was eventually withdrawn from broadcast.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Alberto Fernández Díaz". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  2. ^ Pérez, Roberto (26 January 2012). "Jorge Fernández Díaz, el ministro "bilbilitano"" [Jorge Fernández Díaz, the minister from Calatayud]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Quién es Alberto Fernández, el rostro del PP en Barcelona" [Who is Alberto Fernández, the face of the PP in Barcelona]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 3 December 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Sust, Toni (10 December 2018). "Alberto Fernández Díaz anuncia que deja el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona" [Alberto Fernádez Díaz announces that he is leaving Barcelona City Council]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Los candidatos buscan los votos de los castellanohablantes" [Candidates seek votes of Spanish-speakers]. El Mundo (in Spanish). EFE. 3 October 1999. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  6. ^ Rusiñol, Pere (4 October 1999). "Arenas felicita al PP catalán por usar el castellano en TV-3" [Arenas congratulates the Catalan PP for using Spanish on TV-3]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  7. ^ Rusiñol, Pere (17 October 1999). "El PP pierde cinco escaños y 125.000 sufragios respecto a 1995" [PP lose five seats and 125,000 votes compared to 1995]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  8. ^ "El PP apoya la reelección de Pujol a cambio del compromiso de que no se modificará el Estatuto" [PP supports Pujol's re-election in exchange for commitment that the Statute of Autonomy will not be modified]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 16 November 1999. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Varios manifestantes agreden en Reus al candidato popular a la alcaldía de Barcelona" [Various demonstrators attack the PP candidate for mayor of Barcelona in Reus]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 26 March 2003. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Eleccions municipals del 2011 a Barcelona: gran canvi de color al govern i Xavier Trias, alcalde" [2011 municipal elections in Barcelona: big change of colour in the government and Xavier Trias, mayor] (in Catalan). betevé. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  11. ^ "El PP desaparecería del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona en las próximas municipales" [PP would disappear from the Barcelona City Council in the next municipal elections] (in Spanish). Libertad Digital. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  12. ^ "Fernández Díaz: "Ser 'perico' forma parte de la mejor tradición de Barcelona y Cataluña"" [Fernández Díaz: "Being a 'Perico' is part of the best tradition of Barcelona and Catalonia"]. El Espanol (in Spanish). 15 January 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
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