| Revision as of 16:50, 4 May 2006 editUnyoyega (talk | contribs)10,786 editsm robot Modifying: eo← Previous edit | Revision as of 16:55, 22 May 2006 edit undo88.105.29.53 (talk) →External linksNext edit → | ||
| Line 31: | Line 31: | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | |||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 16:55, 22 May 2006
Don Manuel Fraga Iribarne (born November 23, 1922 at Vilalba, Galicia) is a Spanish politician. Fraga's career as one of the key political figures in Spain straddles both General Franco's dictatorial regime and the subsequent democracy. He was also popularly known as "Don Manuel".
Under Generalisimo Franco's dictatorship
Trained in law, economics and political science, Fraga began his political career in 1945, during Francisco Franco's fascist 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 campaign 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 (1975), 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 appointed as honorary 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 the Galician coast causing a massive oil spill that affected the shoreline in the northwest of the region. 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 hurt 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. After losing support among many in the Popular Party of Galicia, Manuel Fraga lost in party elections as President to Alberto Núñez Feijóo, a 44 year old Galician Popular Party member unaffiliated with the Franco regime.
Overview
Many Galicians and other Spaniards see Fraga as a fascist, despite being one of the writers of the democratic constitution and lessening the censorship law during dictatorship. Fraga himself has publically announced his support of Franco and his dictatorial regime. He is also renowned for his temper tantrums in public at not being referred to or addressed as Don Manuel. He most famously shouted during a television interview, completely unaware the camera was filming and the show was being broadcast live on air. Manuel Fraga Iribarne was probably one of the most important and yet controversial politicians in modern Spain.
External links
- PPdeG's official website for the 2005 elections (in Galician)
- A critical biography of Manuel Fraga (in English)
- Fraga loses his temper during a TV interview (in Galician)
| Preceded byFernando Ignacio González Laxe | President of Galicia 1990-2005 |
Succeeded byEmilio Perez Touriño |