Felipe González

Felipe González Márquez (Spanish

The Most Excellent
pronunciation: [feˈlipe ɣonˈθaleθ ˈmaɾkeθ], born 5
March 1942) is a Spanish lawyer, professor, and Felipe González
politician, who was the Secretary-General of
the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from
1974 to 1997, and the 3rd Prime Minister of
Spain since the restoration of democracy, from 1982
to 1996. He remains the longest-serving Prime
Minister of Spain to be freely elected.

González joined the PSOE in 1964, when it was

banned under the Francoist regime. He obtained a
law degree from the University of Seville in 1965. In
1974, the PSOE elected González as its Secretary-
General after a split in its 26th Congress. After
Franco's death and the beginning of the Spanish
transition to democracy, González obtained a seat in
the Congress of Deputiesafter he led the PSOE
candidacy in the 1977 general election, but lost
to Adolfo Suárez. González in 1991
Prime Minister of Spain
After the PSOE victory in the 1982 general election,
In office
González formed his first majority government,
backed by 202 out of the 350 deputies at the 2 December 1982[1] – 5 May 1996[2]
Congress of Deputies, and led the Government of Monarch Juan Carlos I
Spain for thirteen and a half years after three Deputy Alfonso Guerra
additional victories in
Narcís Serra
the 1986, 1989 and 1993 general elections. In 1996,
González lost the election to José María Aznar and Preceded by Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
the People's Party and was elected to the Congress of Succeeded by José María Aznar
Deputies for the last time in the 2000 general
Secretary-General of the
election, from Seville. Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
In office
Contents 28 September 1979 – 21 June 1997

Early life President Ramón Rubial

Prime Minister of Spain Deputy Alfonso Guerra

After the premiership Preceded by Caretaker committee

Personal life Succeeded by Joaquín Almunia

Published works In office

13 October 1974 – 20 May 1979
See also
President Ramón Rubial (1976–1979)
References
Preceded by Rodolfo Llopis
Further reading
Succeeded by Caretaker committee
External links
Leader of the Opposition
In office
Early life 5 May 1996 – 21 June 1997
Prime Minister José María Aznar
González was born in Bellavista, Seville, the son of a Preceded by José María Aznar
small dairy farmer. He has a sister called Lola
Succeeded by Joaquín Almunia
González Márquez, married to Francisco Germán
Palomino Romera, by whom she has two sons, Felipe Member of the Congress of Deputies
and Germán Palomino González.[3] He studied Law In office
at Seville University and started his career as 29 March 2000 – 2 April 2004
attorney specialising in labor law. While at the Constituency Seville
University he met members of the clandestine
socialist trade union Unión General de In office
Trabajadores (UGT). He also contacted members of 2 July 1977 – 5 April 2000
the PSOE and started taking part in the party's Constituency Madrid
clandestine activity, necessary under the dictatorship
Personal details
of Franco. During that time he adopted the alias
Isidoro and moved to Madrid. He was elected Born Felipe González Márquez
Secretary General of the Party at 5 March 1942
the SuresnesCongress, in France. Seville, Spain

By the time of Franco's death, González had become Political party Spanish Socialist Workers'
the most prominent figure among the left-wing of the Party
democratic opposition to the regime, and played a Spouse(s) Carmen Romero López
critical role, along with then serving prime (m. 1969; div. 2008)
minister Adolfo Suárez, in the Spanish transition to Mar García Vaquero (m. 2012)
democracy. During the Suárez government, General
Children 3
and vice president Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado asked
González not to raise the debate of the Civil War and Education University of Seville
Franquist repression until the death of those of his Signature
generation.[4][5]

In the first democratic general election after Franco's death, held in 1977, the PSOE became the
second most-voted for party, and this served González to appear as a young, active and promising
leader. However, he did not win the 1979 election and had to wait for 1982 and the dissolution of
the Union of the Democratic Centre party to come into office.

Prime Minister of Spain

In the 1982 general election held on 28 October 1982, the
PSOE gained 48.3% of the vote and 202 deputies (out of 350).
On 2 December González became President of the Government
of Spain, with Alfonso Guerra as his deputy. He was the first
socialist to hold the post since the Spanish Civil War, and his
government was the first since then in which none of its
members had served under Francoism.[6]

Felipe González (right) arriving With a large majority in the Congress of Deputies, popularly
at Ypenburg Airport with Ruud known as "the roller" (el rodillo in Spanish),[7] González'
Lubbers, Prime Minister of the election was met with tremendous expectation of change
Netherlands, 1985 amongst Spaniards. Under his government universal and free
educationprovision was extended from age 14 to age 16,
university education was reformed and expanded, the social
security system was extended and a partial legalisation of abortion became law for the first time,
despite opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. González pushed for liberal reforms and a
restructuring of the economy.
On 23 February 1983, the Government passed a law nationalising Rumasa, a private business that
included merchant banking interests, on the grounds that it was at the point of bankruptcy and the
government needed to protect the savings of depositors and the jobs of its 60,000 employees, a
decision that aroused considerable criticism and a judicial conflict over the law that was only
resolved, in favour of the government, in December 1986.

Having promised in the election to create 800,000 new jobs, his government's restructuring of the
steel industry actually resulted in job losses. When they tried to similarly tackle the debt problems
in the dock industry in 1984 the dockers went on strike. The UGT, or General Workers' Union,
called a general strike on 20 June 1985 in protest against social security reforms. In the same year
his government began a massive privatisation, partial or full, of the 200 state owned companies as
well as hundreds of affiliates dependent on these companies.

In the 1986 general election held on 22 June 1986, the PSOE gained 44.1% of the vote and 184
deputies in Parliament. González was elected prime minister for the second time. During this
second term, Spain joined the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1986. González supported
Spain remaining in NATO that same year in a referendum reversing his and the party's earlier anti-
NATO position. A general strike on 14 December 1988 completely paralysed the country and
caused the Unions and the PSOE left wing to describe González as moving to the right.

On 29 October 1989, he won the 1989 general election with 39.6% of the vote and 175 seats,[8] his
third successive mandate. In the First Gulf War in 1991, González supported the USA. From 1991,
the PSOE started losing its urban vote in favour of the reformed People's Party. On the other side,
events like the 1992 Olympic Games held in Barcelona or the Universal Exposition in Seville helped
in consolidating Spain's international image as a modern, affluent country.

On 6 June 1993, González won the 1993 general election with 38.8% of the vote and 159 deputies.
His fourth victory was marred by the fact he was forced to form a pact with nationalist political
parties from Catalonia and Basque country in order to form a new government.

Towards the end of 1995 there was a debate about whether González should lead the PSOE in the
forthcoming general elections. The People's Party intensified its campaign to associate his period in
office with a poor economic situation (although unemployment had begun to decline and the
economic reforms of the previous decade initiated a lasting period of economic growth)[9] and with
accusations of corruption and state terrorism scandals, including allegations of waging a dirty war
against the terrorist group ETA by means of the GAL. There was speculation in the press
about Javier Solana as a possible replacement, but Solana was appointed Secretary General
of NATO in December 1995.

In June 2020, the CIA declassified information confirming that Felipe González had authorised the
creation of the GAL.[10]

Left with no other suitable candidate, the party was again led by González and in the 1996 general
election held on 3 March 1996, they gained 37.4% of the vote and 141 deputies. They lost the
election to the People's Party whose leader José María Aznar replaced González as prime minister
("presidente" in Spanish, but not to be confused with the English use of the term) on 4 or 5 May
1996.

The legacy of Felipe González's long mandate left a bittersweet taste: on the one hand, under his
tenure, Spain initiated a period of thorough modernisation; on the other hand the scandals that
monopolised the news in his last years still preclude a dispassionate consideration of his
tenure. His Ministers of Economy and Finance (notably Miguel Boyer, Carlos Solchaga and Pedro
Solbes) implemented a vigorous program of economic reforms that included privatisation of public
companies such as Telefónica or ENDESA, liberalisation and deregulation of the economy and
restructuring of whole industry sectors such as steel or mining which left many people unemployed
and created resentment among the working classes and the trade unions. This situation was
worsened by the massive influx of female baby-boomers into the labour market, which further
increased the unemployment rates.

His cabinets, on the other hand, paved the way to a long period of declining interest rates, low
budget deficits and stronger economic growth than the European average. Spain was a founding
member of the transition to the single currency (Euro) based on the measures of his last
government. Other reforms had also a deep impact on the Spanish economy, such as the extension
of a network of highways, airports and the creation of new infrastructures, including the high speed
train. Gonzalez-led cabinets were the first to implement a national, comprehensive infrastructure
program that included not only public works but theatres, museums, secondary schools. In
addition, a comprehensive welfare state was established,[11][12] while improvements were made to
social programmes such as pensions and unemployment benefits.[13] A 40-hour workweek was
introduced, while entitlement to paid holidays was extended to up to 30 days per year. Pension
funds were also established, together with provision for social tourism. In addition, the school-
leaving age was raised from 14 to 16, while the number of educational grants was multiplied by
eight.[14]

Unemployment protection was expanded[15] and a national education system for children under
the age of six was established. Cash benefits in social housing, Universal healthcare and education
were introduced, along with earnings-based benefits for widowhood, sickness, disability and
retirement. A Ministry of Social Affairs was also set up, allowing for social services to be
decentralised in the early Nineties and to be available to all citizens, rather than only to those with
social security.

The pension system was extended to needy people, universal public schooling was expanded from
all children under the age of 16, and new universities were established. Healthcare was reformed,
creating the National Health Service and the development of primary care medicine based on
"health centres" where integral primary care for adults, pregnant women and paediatric patients
was provided. When he left office, Spain had the best prepared young generation in history and
women had stated coping leadership roles as never before. State run Television Española reached a
high level of quality under the direction of Pilar Miró. Private television channels were also
permitted in 1990, ending the state monopoly.

Felipe González also secured Spain's entry into the EEC, which the country joined in 1986 and
consolidated democratic government.[16] Together with François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl, he
gave an injection of new life to Europe's public face. He was the sole support of Kohl's drive to a
united Germany, counteracting British and French hostility. He also started diplomatic relations
with Israel, which had never been established by Franco because of Antisemitism. Due to his
prestige,Spain also housed peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis in 1990; these were
chaired by President George H. W. Bush of the United States and Soviet President Mikhail
Gorbachev.

In the fight against terrorism, an intense police campaign secured several victories that left the
terrorist organisation ETA severely debilitated. In his earlier years ETA killings totalled dozens per
year (the 1987 Hipercor bombing attack in Barcelona alone killed more than 10 people), while in
his latter years ETA killed far fewer. During his time as Prime Minister a group called GAL was
active as a gangster-style force targeting etarras (ETA members). Several innocent people were
killed and the subsequent investigations ended with some police officers and the Minister of
Internal Affairs, José Barrionuevo, condemned to jail. The Constitutional Court later ratified the
sentence. Among successful operations were the capture of the ETA central arsenal and archives in
Sokoa (France) and the capture of the organisation's ruling body in 1992.
However, in the final years of his mandate several cases of
corruption, the most notable of which were the scandals
involving Civil Guard Director Roldán, further eroded popular
support for the PSOE. Nonetheless González and most of his
ministers generally managed to leave office with their
reputation intact although there had been some singularly
unfortunate choices made in the case of some of the lower
ranking public servants, according to María Antonia
Iglesias (La memoria recuperada. Lo que nunca han contado
Felipe González y los dirigentes socialistas, 2003); this author
is very close, though, to the PSOE official line, as she served as
González with Argentine
head of the public TV broadcaster Televisión Española after
President Cristina Fernández de
appointment to the post by one of Gonzalez' cabinets.
Kirchner at Nestor Kirchner's
funeral in 2010
Lately, his role as a decisive statesman in the latter part of the
20th century has been recognised. One of his most bitter
adversaries, Luis MarÍa Ansón, at the time director of the right
wing newspaper ABC and later of the hard right La Razón has stated that Gonzalez "was the best
prime minister that Spain had in the 20th century". He also stated that he and many others (mainly
newspaper owners and media pundits) started a witch hunt against him, in support of the Popular
Party, out of fear that Gonzalez's leadership might last several decades.

After the premiership

González ended his fourth term on 4 May 1996. Since September 1996 he has headed the Madrid-
based Global Progress Foundation (FPG). At the beginning of the 34th PSOE National Congress on
20 June 1997 he surprisingly resigned as leader of the party. He also resigned from the federal
executive committee, though retaining his seat in the Congress. With no clear successor he
continued to exert an enormous influence over the party. He was only replaced at the 35th party
Congress in July 2000 when José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero became the leader.

In 1996, González was the head of the OSCE delegation which was sent to Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia as a mediator in the dialogue between Serbian government and the opposition,
following the mass protests which have started over the alleged electoral fraud at the 1996 Serbian
local elections.

In 1997 he was considered a leading candidate to take over the position of President of the
European Commission after Jacques Santer.[17] The position ultimately went to Italy's Romano
Prodi.

In 1999 González was put in charge of the party's Global

Progress Commission in response to globalisation. The
commission's report formed the basis of the closing declaration
of the 21st Socialist International Congress on 8–9 November
1999.

He stood down as a deputy in the Spanish Parliament in March

2004.

On 27 July 2007 the Spanish Government appointed him Gonzalez at the Global Governance
plenipotentiary and extraordinary ambassador for the event at Monterrey Institute of
Technology and Higher Education,
bicentenary celebrations in commemoration of the
Mexico City 2012
independence of Latin America. The celebrations will begin in
September 2010 in Mexico.[18]
At a summit held in Brussels on 14 December 2007, heads of state and government of European
Union member states appointed González chairman of a think tank on the future of Europe. The
group, consisting of up to nine prestigious personalities commissioned to drawing up a report, by
June 2010, on the challenges facing the European Union from 2020 to 2030, will also look at how
to achieve a closer understanding between citizens and the Union.[19]

In December 2014, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos granted González Colombian
nationality.[20]

From 2010 to 2015, González was appointed independent

director in Gas Natural-Fenosa, one of the leading energy
companies in Spain, being one of the best known high-profile
cases of revolving doors in Spanish politics.[21]

Since 2015 he has taken an active role in criticizing the

emerging party Podemos, which he considers a populist threat,
and have actively lobbied the PSOE against approaching
Podemos for any possible government coalition.[22] González
supported PSOE candidate Pedro Sánchez in
the 2015 and 2016 general elections, but in the aftermath
Sánchez announced talks with Podemos and Catalan separatist
parties. González then supported Susana Diazfaction in a
bitter internal struggle which ended with PSOE facilitating the
investiture of the conservative government and the dismissal of
Pedro Sánchez.[23]
Felipe González (2014)
In 2015 González traveled to Venezuela to support Leopoldo
López and other imprisoned opposition leaders.[24] His
involvement came at the same time mainstream media and political parties were accusing
emerging Podemos of having links with the Venezuelan government.[25]

González is a member of the Club of Madrid,[26] an independent non-profit organisation composed

of 81 democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 57 different countries.

In 2015, González was awarded the Distinguished Leadership Award for Public Service in the
Americas Award by the Inter-American Dialogue for his tireless, effective, and ongoing public
service and commitment to democracy in Latin America.[27]

Personal life
González married María del Carmen Julia Romero y López in Seville on 16 July 1969 and has three
children: Pablo González Romero, David González Romero and María González Romero (lawyer).
He divorced Carmen Romero in 2008. In 2012 he married Mar García Vaquero.[28]

One of his hobbies is tending bonsai trees. During his tenure at Moncloa, he received and cultivated
several of them, mostly Mediterranean species, that he later donated to the Royal Botanic
Garden of Madrid.

His wife is named in the Panama Papers scandal in 2016.[29]

Published works
"Un discurso ético" (co-authorship with Víctor Márquez Reviriego, 1982).
"El Socialismo" (1997).
 "El futuro no es lo que era" (co-authorship with Juan Luis Cebrián, 2001).
"Memorias del futuro" (2003).
"Mi idea de Europa" (2011).

See also
History of Spain
Politics of Spain

References
1. Real Decreto 3285/1982, de 1 de diciembre. BOE 2 December 1982
2. Real Decreto 757/1996, de 4 de mayo. BOE 5 May 1996
3. "Felipe González Marquez, * 1942 - Geneall.net". geneall.net.
4. González, Felipe and Cebrián, Juan Luis (2001) El future no es lo sue era
5. Díez, Luis (10 March 2010). "Las listas de los esclavos del franquismo". Cuarto Poder.
6. The administration of Felipe González, 1982-96 at Encyclopedia Britannica
7. "The Spain of Felipe: For change". El Mundo (in Spanish). 28 October 2007.
8. Spain's Ministry of the Interior: Official election results Archived 24 March 2010 at the Wayback
Machine
9. http://www.ine.es/daco/daco42/cne00/pib.xls#Tabla_2!A1
10. https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/international/160620/espagne-felipe-gonzalez-de-nouveau-
pointe-du-doigt-pour-avoir-soutenu-des-mercenaires-anti-eta
11. "Felipe González Speaker, Speeches, Booking Agent, Agency". Thinking heads. Archived
from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
12. http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/1526/1/dt-0212e.pdf
13. http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/2025/1/dt-9704.pdf
14. Spain: From Dictatorship to Democracy by Javier Tusell
15. PDF Archived 3 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
16. Garcia, David; Pardo, Ramon Pacheco (7 August 2014). Contemporary Spanish Foreign
Policy. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-63124-8.
17. "Europe's presidential race: the form", The Economist, 11 June 1998,
retrieved 16 September 2009
18. SER, Cadena (26 July 2007). "El Gobierno nombrará mañana a Felipe González embajador
extraordinario para el bicentenario de la independencia de América".
19. "Felipe González presidirá el Grupo de Reflexión sobre el futuro de Europa".
20. "Lluvia de elogios a Felipe González al recibir la nacionalidad colombiana".
Retrieved 13 May 2020.
21. "Gas Natural Fenosa incorporates Felipe González to its Board as an independent
director". gasnaturalfenosa.com. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
22. País, Ediciones El (9 December 2015). "Ex-PM González joins campaign fray with attack
against Podemos". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
23. Burgen, Stephen; agencies (23 October 2016). "Spain's Socialists lift veto to allow Rajoy
minority government". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
24. "Felipe Gonzalez in Venezuela: Ex-Spain PM to help opposition". BBC News. 7 June 2015.
Retrieved 22 November 2016.
25. Minder, Raphael (19 June 2016). "Venezuela Casts a Long Shadow on Elections in Spain". The
New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
26. The Club of Madrid is an independent non-profit organization composed of 81 democratic
former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 57 different countries. It constitutes the world's
largest forum of former Heads of State and Government, who have come together to respond
to a growing demand for support among leaders in democratic leadership, governance, crisis
and post-crisis situations. All lines of work share the common goal of building functional and
inclusive societies, where the leadership experience of the members is most valuable.
27. "Felipe González". The Dialogue. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
28. "Felipe González se ha casado con su novia, Mar García Vaquero" Mábel Galaz @ El País, 3
August 2012
29. https://www.larazon.es/lifestyle/gente/la-mujer-de-felipe-gonzalez-tambien-aparece-en-los-
papeles-de-panama-JC12455639/

Further reading
Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical
dictionary(Greenwood, 1995) pp 176–82

External links
EU Council CV
Analysis of his rule
Felipe González at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) (in Spanish)

Party political offices

Secretary-General of the Spanish
Preceded by Succeeded by
Socialist Workers' Party
Rodolfo Llopis Caretaker committee
1974–1979

Vacant Leader of the Socialist Group in

Succeeded by
Title last held by the Congress of Deputies
Alfonso Guerra
Ramón González Peña 1977–1979
Secretary-General of the Spanish
Preceded by Succeeded by
Socialist Workers' Party
Caretaker committee Joaquín Almunia
1979–1997

Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Spain Succeeded by
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo 1982–1996 José María Aznar
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition Succeeded by
José María Aznar 1996–1997 Joaquín Almunia