José María Barreda

José María Barreda
President of Castile-La Mancha
In office 29 April 2004 – 22 June 2011
Preceded by	José Bono Martínez
Succeeded by	María Dolores de Cospedal
President of the Cortes of Castile-La Mancha
In office 21 June 1991 – 8 July 1997
Preceded by	José Manuel Martínez Cenzano
Succeeded by	María del Carmen Blázquez
Member of the Congress of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 December 2011
Constituency	Ciudad Real
Member of the Senate
In office 21 November 1989 – 16 October 1991
Constituency	Castile-La Mancha
Personal details
Born	4 February 1953 Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain
Political party	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

José María Barreda Fontes (born 4 February 1953) is a Spanish politician and academic. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, he was the President of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha from 2004 until 2011.^[1]

Biography

Barreda, who was born in Ciudad Real, he is a descendent of a spanish noble family and holds a doctorate in history and geography and a BA in philosophy and letters from the Complutense University of Madrid.^[2] He received a scholarship from the Spanish National Research Council to fund his post-doctoral research and is currently a tenured professor of contemporary history at the University of Castile-La Mancha.^[2]

Barreda met his wife, Clementina Díez de Baldeón, a socialist deputy for the Province of Ciudad Real, while still at university; the couple have two children.^[2]

Political career

Barreda's first elected position was to the municipal council of Ciudad Real, a post he held from 1983-1987.^[3] During that period, he was the Minister for Education and Culture in the first regional Government of José Bono Martínez.^[3] As a Minister, he oversaw the creation of the University of Castile-La Mancha, launched the regional network of libraries, cultural centres, theatres and auditoria, and organised the conversion of the library at the Alcázar of Toledo.^[3]

Barreda became the regional Minister for Institutional Relations in January 1988; he only held the portfolio for four months, however, as he became the region's vice-president in May of the same year.^[4] He served as vice-president until November 1989, when the Cortes of Castile-La Mancha—the regional parliament—appointed him to be one of the region's two representatives in the Spanish Senate.^[4] He returned to Castile-La Mancha in June 1991 to serve as the President of the Cortes Regionales.^[4] Barreda remained in the post until July 1997, when he was forced to resign following his appointment as the regional general-secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party.^[4] Following the 1999 regional elections, Barreda returned to his old post of vice-president of Castile-La Mancha.^[4]

President of Castile-La Mancha

In April 2004, after more than 20 years as President of Castile-La Mancha, Bono was named as the Minister of Defence in José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero newly elected government.^[4] Barreda took over from Bono as President of Castile-La Mancha and was his party's candidate in the 2007 regional elections, where he retained his position, albeit with a reduced majority.^[4]

References

1. Miguel Ángel Marfull (2 February 2010). "Barreda incomoda al PSOE al pedir a Zapatero otro Gobierno" (in Spanish). Público. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
2. José María Barreda (5 March 2009). "José María Barreda - Mi Perfil" (in Spanish). jmbarreda.com. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
3. "Presidencia de la Junta" (in Spanish). Gobiermo de Castile-La Mancha. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
4. "José María Barreda Fontes". typicallyspanish.com. 12 March 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2010.

External links

• Official website