Manuel Fraga Iribarne
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Manuel Fraga Iribarne (born November 23, 1922 at Villalba, Galicia) is a Spanish politician. Fraga has been one of the key political figures in Spain under both General Franco's dictatorial regime and the subsequent democracy.
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Under Generalisimo Franco's dictatorship
Trained in law, economics and political science, Fraga began his political career in 1945, during Francisco Franco's dictatorship. Between 1962 and 1969 he served as minister for Propaganda and Tourism, and played a major role in the revitalization of Spanish tourist industry, leading a campaing under the slogan Spain is different!. In 1966 he dispelled fears of a nuclear accident at Palomares by swimming in the allegedly contaminated water. He also introduced a new censorship law which technically allowed greater freedom of the press.
The First Government of the Monarchy
After a brief period as Spain's ambassador in the United Kingdom, which ended with Franco's death, Manuel Fraga was appointed vicepresident and Interior Minister (Ministro de Gobernación) in 1976, under Carlos Arias Navarro's government, the first with Juan Carlos I as chief of state. Until that moment, Fraga was known as a heavy-handed politician, though also seen as one of the reformers seeking a liberalisation from within the regime, but the drastic measures he took as chief of state security during the first days of the Spanish transition to democracy damaged his popularity at a great level. He was attributed the phrase "¡La calle es mía!" ("The streets are mine!") and since then associated by the press and public with the violent repression of the Franco era.
Alianza Popular
Fraga was one of the writers of the new Spanish constitution approved in 1978. Along with other former members of Franco's regime, he quickly founded a right-wing party called People's Alliance (Alianza Popular - AP), led by Fraga himself as its president. The party was ignored in its first years, but after the 1982 crisis and breakup of the Democratic Centre Union, the moderate-conservative party which had won the first two democratic presidential elections, AP became the second party in Spain, and Fraga was considered Leader of the Opposition to the Socialist government. Nevertheless, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party was enjoying great popularity and an absolute majority winning strike (in the 1982, 1986, and 1989 elections), as AP and its president were generally viewed as too reactionary to be an alternative. Under this critical circumstances, Fraga resigned the presidency of the party in 1986.
Partido Popular
Fraga came back in charge in 1989, determined to stop AP's crisis. With the addition of several lesser christian democratic parties and the remnants of the Democratic Centre Union, he refounded the People's Alliance as the People's Party (Partido Popular - PP). Later in the same year, Fraga encouraged the election of José María Aznar as the party's new president. Fraga was then indicted honorific president of the PP.
President of Galicia
Manuel Fraga returned to his Galician homeland in 1990, winning that year's presidential election by a landslide, as head of the People's Party in Galicia (PPdeG). He remained in charge for almost 15 years until the PPdeG lost its overall majority in the Galician election of 2005. Fraga saw his credibility damaged in late 2002, when an oil tanker ship called Prestige sank near Galician coast. Fraga was said to be slow to react and unable, or even unwilling, to handle the situation. In 2004, a power struggle between factions of PPdeG further deteriorated the party's image. Subsequently, in the autonomous elections of 2005, Fraga and the PPdeG lost their absolute majority in the Parliament of Galicia, and a coalition government of PSdeG and BNG was formed with socialist Emilio Pérez Touriño as the new president. Manuel Fraga has hinted that he will remain the head of the PP in Galicia for the forseeable future.
External links
- PPdeG's official website for the 2005 elections (in Galician)
- A critical biography of Manuel Fraga (in English)
| Preceded by: Fernando Ignacio González Laxe |
President of Galicia 1990-2005 |
Succeeded by: Emilio Perez Touriño |
