Juan García-Gallardo
Vice President of Castile and León
Assumed office
20 April 2022
PresidentAlfonso Fernández Mañueco
Preceded byFrancisco Igea
Member of the Cortes of Castile and León
Assumed office
10 March 2022
ConstituencyValladolid
Spokesperson of the Vox Parliamentary Group in the Cortes of Castile and León
Assumed office
10 March 2022
Preceded byOffice established
Personal details
Born
Juan Manuel García-Gallardo Frings

(1991-03-18) 18 March 1991
Burgos, Castile and León, Spain
Political partyVox (2020–present)
Alma materComillas Pontifical University,
University of Deusto

Juan Manuel García-Gallardo Frings (born 18 March 1991)[1] is a Spanish lawyer and politician of the Vox party. He led the party in the 2022 Castilian-Leonese regional election, in which they became the third-biggest group in the Cortes of Castile and León. They formed government with the People's Party and he became Vice President.

Early life

Born in Burgos, García-Gallardo studied the Bachelor's degree in Law at the Comillas Pontifical University with a diploma in International Legal Studies (2009–2014) and took the master's degree in Legal Practice and a master's degree in Business Law from the University of Deusto (2013–2014).[2] After passing the Spanish Bar Examination, he obtained the title of lawyer (licence). He won regional titles in horse riding, and took part in the debating world championship in Madrid in 2013. In December 2016 he joined the law firm of his grandfather and father, both also named Juan Manuel.[3]

Political career

In January 2022, García-Gallardo was announced as the lead candidate for Vox in snap elections to the Cortes of Castile and León.[4] He had joined the party only the previous June.[3] Soon after his nomination, he deleted historical tweets that he had made about LGBT people, feminists, Romani and immigrants; in 2011 he had written "It seems a good idea to me to bring back Raúl for the Euros. We need to heterosexualise this sport that's full of faggots".[5] He defended this particular remark as "a football joke when I didn't even have a moustache".[6]

During the campaign, he pledged to align with the governing People's Party (PP), whom he considered to be "addicted to power".[7] He said that there would be no alliance unless the PP enacted Vox's policies, which included financial incentives to increase the birth rate in the region.[8][9]

In the election, Vox rose from one deputy to 13, with 17% of the vote, making it the third biggest party in the legislature.[10] García-Gallardo told regional president Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (PP) that he would only form a coalition if two regional laws were repealed: a 2010 law on gender violence that Vox considers to be politically motivated and neglectful other forms of violence, and a 2018 law of historical memory that would allocate funds to associations for victims of Francisco Franco.[11]

On 10 March 2022, Mañueco formed a coalition government with Vox, with Vox having three of the ten ministers including García-Gallardo as vice president. The law on gender violence that Vox had criticised was replaced by a law on domestic violence regardless of gender, as the party had demanded.[12] It was the first far-right entrance into a government in Spain since the transition to democracy from 1975 onwards.[13]

In May 2022, García-Gallardo caused controversy in a discussion with Noelia Frutos in the Cortes. The discussion was on women and disabilities, and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) deputy has dwarfism and uses a wheelchair.[14] García-Gallardo had said "Look Mrs Frutos, I am not going to condescend to you and I am going to respond to your lack of respect as if you were a person like any other, not how your parliamentary group does, as I will expand upon later".[15] He said that his statement was about meritocracy and it was being manipulated by his political rivals.[16]

García-Gallardo proposed legislation in January 2023 that would mandate abortion clinics to offer an ultrasound scan or a chance to listen to the fetal heartbeat before the procedure. The measures were overturned by the PP after the PSOE-led central government threatened to block it in the courts or bring about direct rule in Castile and León as a final resort.[17] Leading PP figures such as President of the Community of Madrid Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Campaign Committee president Borja Sémper criticised the measures as needlessly provocative.[18][19] He also proposes the abolition of regional laws against gender violence on the grounds that such legislation is "an anomaly in the civilised world" and on the idea that "heartless women file false complaints".[20]

References

  1. ↑ De la Calle Fernández, Isabel (9 February 2022). "García-Gallardo (Vox), el gran desconocido a quien Twitter puso en la escena pública" [García-Gallardo (Vox), the great unknown whom Twitter put in the public eye]. Público (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  2. ↑ Villar, Cote (9 February 2022). "Juan García-Gallardo (Vox): familia numerosa, novia brillante y llave de Castilla y León" [Juan García-Gallardo (Vox): large family, brilliant girlfriend and key to Castile and León]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  3. 1 2 Lázaro, Fernando (8 January 2022). "Un abogado burgalés, campeón de debate e hípica, líder de Vox para las elecciones de Castilla y León" [A lawyer from Burgos, champion of debate and horse riding, Vox leader for the elections in Castile and León]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  4. ↑ Cornejo, Laura (8 January 2022). "El abogado Juan García-Gallardo será el candidato de Vox a la Junta de Castilla y León" [Lawyer Juan García-Gallardo will be Vox's candidate for President of Castile and León]. ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  5. ↑ "El candidato de Vox en Castilla y León borra los tuits homófobos, racistas y machistas de su cuenta" [Vox's candidate in Castile and León deletes homophobic, racist and sexist tweets from his account]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 9 January 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  6. ↑ Lázaro, Fernando (10 January 2022). ""Dicen que soy homófobo por hacer una broma futbolística cuando no me había salido el bigote"" ["They say I'm homophobic for making a football joke when I didn't even have a moustache"]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  7. ↑ Hernández, Álvaro; Cuevas, Javier (4 February 2022). "Juan García-Gallardo (Vox) en la SER: "El PP es adicto al poder, quieren gobernar solos para seguir como caciques"" [Juan García-Gallardo (Vox) on SER: "The PP is addicted to power, they want to govern alone in order to carry on like feudal overlords"] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  8. ↑ Ramos, Ana Belén (6 February 2022). "Juan García-Gallardo: "O se aplican las políticas de Vox o el PP no gobernará en Castilla y León"" [Juan García-Gallardo: "The PP can either apply Vox's policies or not govern in Castile and León"]. El Independiente (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  9. ↑ "García-Gallardo apuesta por familias "fuertes y unidas"" [García-Gallardo bets on "strong and united" families]. El Día de Valladolid (in Spanish). 6 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  10. ↑ Dombey, Daniel (13 February 2012). "Spain's far-right Vox seeks place in regional government after elections". Financial Times. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  11. ↑ Fernández, J. I. (17 February 2022). "Las leyes de Violencia de Género y Memoria Histórica en Castilla y León: ¿qué dicen y qué quiere cambiar Vox?". El Espanol (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  12. ↑ Escribano, Susana (10 March 2022). "Mañueco presidirá un gobierno con diez consejerías, con Vox al mando de tres y García-Gallardo de vicepresidente" [Mañueco will preside over a government with ten ministers, with Vox in charge of three and García-Gallardo as vice president]. El Norte de Castilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  13. ↑ "Far-right gains first share of power in Spain since Franco". Reuters. 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  14. ↑ Casal, Luis (26 May 2022). "Noelia Frutos, la diputada y diseñadora gráfica con enanismo ofendida por Vox: "Yo soy normal"" [Noelia Frutos, the deputy and graphic designer with dwarfism who was offended by Vox: "I am normal"]. El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  15. ↑ Encinas, Antonio G. (25 May 2022). "El diálogo entre García-Gallardo y Noelia Frutos: "Le responderé como si fuera una persona como todas las demás"" [The dialogue between García-Gallardo and Noelia Frutos: "I will respond to you as if you were a person like anyone else"]. El Norte de Castilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  16. ↑ "García-Gallardo no pide disculpas a la procuradora del PSOE: "Me ratifico en mis palabras"" [García-Gallardo does not apologise to the PSOE deputy: "I stand by my words"]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). EFE. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  17. ↑ Hedgecoe, Guy (16 January 2023). "Spanish region's anti-abortion measures spark dispute with Madrid". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  18. ↑ Machuca, Pablo (16 January 2023). "Ayuso, muy dura con García-Gallardo por la medida sobre el aborto: "Es innecesario"" [Ayuso, very stern with García-Gallardo for measures on abortion: "It's unnecessary"]. HuffPost (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  19. ↑ "Sémper carga contra Vox y tacha de "irresponsable" a Gallardo: "Hacen falta gobiernos que no generen incendios"" [Sémper launches against Vox and calls Gallardo "irresponsible": "We need governments that don't start fires"] (in Spanish). RTVE. 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  20. ↑ "La région de Castille-et-León, rampe de lancement de la guerre culturelle de l'extrême droite en Espagne". Le Monde. 26 January 2023.
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