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María José García-Pelayo

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María José García-Pelayo Jurado (born 6 January 1968)[1] is a Spanish People's Party (PP) politician. She has served on the city council of her hometown of Jerez de la Frontera since 1995, with three spells as mayor (2003–2005; 2011–2013; 2023–). She has also sat in both houses of the Cortes Generales including three spells in the Senate (2011–2015; 2022–2023; 2023–), and in the Parliament of Andalusia (1996–2011).

Biography

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Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Andalusia, García-Pelayo graduated with a law degree from the University of Cádiz.[2] She was introduced to politics at age 24 by Miguel Arias Cañete, a law firm colleague who later became a government minister.[1] First elected to her hometown's city council in 1995, she became mayor for the first time in 2003. She later reflected that she did not feel that she was mayor due to the dominance of her predecessor and coalition party, Pedro Pacheco of the Socialist Party of Andalusia (PSA).[1] In January 2005, a motion of no confidence in her was supported by the PSA and handed the mayoralty to Pilar Sánchez of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).[3]

García-Pelayo served in the provincial deputation of the Province of Cádiz as the PP spokesperson from 1999 to 2003, as well as serving in the Parliament of Andalusia where she was vice president.[2] In June 2011, she was sworn in for a second term as mayor, after her party took 15 seats on the council.[4] She left the regional parliament at the end of 2011, after being elected to the Senate of Spain in the general election.[5] In the 2015 local elections, the PP was the most voted in Jerez with 11 seats, but lost power to a three-way pact between the PSOE, Ganemos Jerez and the United Left (IU).[6] Later that year, she was investigated by the Supreme Court of Spain for alleged perversion of justice and falsification of documents, while other local members of her party were investigated in the Gürtel case.[7] The case against her was dropped in May 2016.[8]

In the 2015 Spanish general election, García-Pelayo was elected to the Congress of Deputies by the Cádiz constituency.[9] In July 2022, she moved back to the Senate, when she was named by President of the Regional Government of Andalusia Juanma Moreno.[10] She began a third spell as mayor of Jerez after winning an absolute majority of seats in the 2023 local elections,[11] and was also elected for a third stint in the Senate by the constituency.[12] In September 2023, she was inaugurated as president of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) after the PP took the majority of mayoralties, thus succeeding the Socialist mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Sánchez Múgica, Francisco (12 June 2011). "La niña de la calle Almenillas" [The girl from Almenillas Street]. Diario de Jerez (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b "La alcaldesa de Jerez, María José García-Pelayo (PP), relevará a Abel Caballero en la FEMP" [Mayor of Jerez, María José García-Pelayo (PP), will replace Abel Caballlero in the FEMP]. HuffPost (in Spanish). 22 September 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  3. ^ "La socialista Pilar Sánchez, nueva alcaldesa de Jerez al prosperar la moción contra el PP" [Socialist Pilar Sánchez, new mayor of Jerez upon approval of motion against the PP]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Europa Press. 15 January 2005. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  4. ^ "La popular María José García-Pelayo es proclamada alcaldesa de Jerez" [PP's María José García-Pelayo is sworn in as mayor of Jerez] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 11 June 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  5. ^ "La diputada del PP-A Teresa Ruiz Sillero se incorporará a la Mesa del Parlamento tras la marcha de García Pelayo [sic]" [PP-A deputy Teresa Ruiz Sillero will join the Parliamentary Table after García-Pelayo's exit]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Europa Press. 13 December 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Mamen Sánchez (PSOE) es investida alcaldesa de Jerez tras obtener el apoyo de Ganemos Jerez e IU" [Mamen Sánchez (PSOE) is inaugurated as mayor of Jerez after obtaining the support of Ganemos Jerez and the IU] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  7. ^ Fernández, David (25 November 2015). "El caso Gürtel estrecha el cerco a la número dos del PP al Congreso por Cádiz" [The Gürtel case tightens around the PP's number two for Congress for Cádiz]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  8. ^ Álvarez, Javier (10 May 2016). "La Fiscalía desiste de acusar a María José García Pelayo [sic] de prevaricación" [Prosecution no longer accuses María José García-Pelayo of perversion of justice] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  9. ^ Ojea, Alfonso (21 December 2015). "De la Serna, Pelayo... los diputados electos que permanecen bajo sospecha" [De la Serna, Pelayo... the deputies-elect who remain under suspicion] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  10. ^ Cañas, E. M. (25 July 2022). "María José García-Pelayo (PP) pasará del Congreso al Senado" [María José García-Pelayo (PP) will go from Congress to the Senate]. Diario de Jerez (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  11. ^ Cañas, E. M. (11 June 2023). ""Jerez va a entrar en una nueva etapa de consenso y concordia"" ["Jerez will enter a new period of consensus and agreement"]. Diario de Jerez (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Elecciones generales Cádiz 2023: Estos serán los nuevos senadores por la provincia" [General election Cádiz 2023: These are the new senators for the province]. Diario de Cádiz (in Spanish). 24 July 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  13. ^ "García-Pelayo aspira a convertir la FEMP "en la casa de todos los ayuntamientos"" [García-Pelayo aspires to convert the FEMP "into the house of all the city halls"] (in Spanish). EFE. 23 September 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
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