José Luis Ábalos

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal surname
is Ábalos and the second or maternal family name is Meco.
Valencia
In office
21 April 2009 – 15 June 2018
ConstituencyValencia
Personal details
Born (1959-12-09) 9 December 1959 (age 64)
Torrent, Valencia, Spain
Political partyIndependent (since 2024)
Other political
affiliations		Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (1981–2024)
Communist Party of Spain (1978–1981)
Communist Youth Union of Spain (1976–1978)
ProfessionPrimary teacher, Politician

José Luis Ábalos Meco (born 9 December 1959) is a Spanish politician serving as

Member of the Congress of Deputies since 2009. A long-time member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, he was expelled from the party in 2024 for his involvement in a corruption scandal. He has served as minister of Development (of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda since 2020) of the Government of Spain from 2018 to 2021, in the cabinets chaired by Pedro Sánchez
. He was also the Secretary of Organization of his party from 2017 to 2021.

Biography

Ábalos was born in Torrent, Valencia in 1959.[1] He is the son of bullfighter Heliodoro Ábalos "Carbonerito" and the grandson of a Civil Guard officer, Julián Meco, who died in active service because of a pneumonia during the Revolution of 1934.[2]

He joined the Communist Youth Union of Spain at the age of 17 and in 1978 he officially joined the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). After leaving the PCE, Ábalos joined the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in 1981.[1][3]

Ábalos worked as a

Valencia city in the latter year. He also stood as a candidate for Secretary-General of the PSOE in the Valencian Community
in 2001 and 2008, but was unsuccessful on both occasions.

He was a member of Valencia City Council from 1999 to 2009

Spanish Congress, but in April 2009 he joined the Congress as a substitute for Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero, who had been appointed Secretary-General for Infraestructures within the Ministry of Public Works.[7]

On 24 May 2017, he was appointed Acting

leadership election. He served as such until June 19, 2017, when Margarita Robles was appointed Spokesperson[8] and Ábalos was appointed Secretary of Organization of the PSOE.[9]

Minister

In June 2018, prime minister Pedro Sánchez appointed Ábalos as

first Cabinet of Pedro Sánchez who were also members of parliament. To avoid overlaps in their agendas, they resigned to its seats at the Congress of Deputies.[11]

The Prime Minister called for snap elections twice in 2019, winning the PSOE both of them. In both elections, Ábalos ran for election, being elected MP for the Valencian constituency.

After the

coalition government presided by Sánchez, and Ábalos was confirmed on its position as Minister, although the portfolio was renamed as Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.[12]

In January 2020, Ábalos met in the guest area of the

Madrid–Barajas Airport with Delcy Rodríguez, Vice President of Venezuela, despite the entry ban imposed by the European Union.[13]

In July 2021, he was replaced by Raquel Sánchez Jiménez as minister of Transport. He also resigned as Secretary of Organization of PSOE.

Positions held

  • Secretary General of the Socialist Party of Valencia PSPV-PSOE (1995–2000)
  • President of the National Committee of the PSPV-PSOE (1997–1999)
  • Councilor of the City Hall of Valencia (1999–2009)
  • Vicesecretary General of PSPV-PSOE (2000–2004)
  • Member of the County Council of Valencia (2003–2007)
  • Member of the Congress of Deputies representing the Constituency of Valencia (2009–2018; 2019–)
  • Secretary General of PSPV in the province of Valencia (2012–2017)
  • Acting Spokesperson of the Socialist Party at the Spanish Congress of Deputies (2017)
  • Organizational Secretary of PSOE (2017–2021)
  • Minister of Development (2018–2020); Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (2020–2021)

Electoral history

José Luis Ábalos' electoral history
Election List Constituency # Result Ref.
Valencia municipal election, 1999 PSOE - 2nd (out of 33) Elected [14]
Valencia municipal election, 2003 PSOE - 2nd (out of 33) Elected [15]
Valencia municipal election, 2007 PSOE - 4th (out of 33) Elected [16]
Spanish general election, 2008 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 8th (out of 16) Not elected [17][n. 1]
Spanish general election, 2011 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 3rd (out of 16) Elected [18]
Spanish general election, 2015 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 2nd (out of 15) Elected [19]
Spanish general election, 2016 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 2nd (out of 16) Elected [20]
Spanish general election, April 2019 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 1st (out of 15) Elected [21]
Spanish general election, November 2019 (Congress of Deputies) PSOE Valencia 1st (out of 15) Elected [22]
  1. ^ Ábalos was proclaimed deputy after the 2009 renouncement of Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero.

References

  1. ^ a b "17 cosas que no sabías de José Luis Ábalos". El Huffington Post (in Spanish). 2017-05-24. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  2. ^ "Ábalos, nieto de guardia civil, hijo del torero 'Carbonerito': la historia familiar del poderoso ministro". El Español (in European Spanish). 2018-06-16. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  3. ^ "José Luis Ábalos, una juventud comunista y una carrera socialista peldaño a peldaño". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 2018-06-05. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  4. ^
    Prisa
    . Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  5. ^ "ÁBALOS MECO, José Luis (Torrent, 1959)" (PDF). Dictionary of Valencian politicians. 2005. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  6. El Pais. 9 March 2008. Archived from the original
    on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  7. Europa Press (16 April 2009). "Blanco nombra a Rodríguez-Piñero secretaria general de Infraestructuras". Levante – El Mercantil Valenciano
    (in Spanish). Prensa Ibérica. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  8. ^ "La magistrada Margarita Robles será la nueva portavoz del PSOE en el Congreso de los Diputados". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2017-06-18. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  9. ^ AGENCIAS, RTVE es / (2017-06-15). "Adriana Lastra y José Luis Ábalos, apuestas de Sánchez como números dos y tres de la nueva Ejecutiva". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  10. ISSN 1134-6582
    . Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  11. ISSN 1134-6582
    . Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  12. ^ LaInformacion (10 January 2020). "Fomento cambia de nombre: Ábalos sigue como ministro de Transporte y Movilidad". La Información (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  13. ^ "Spain-Venezuela encounter by tarmac unleashes speculation". AP NEWS. 2020-01-23. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  14. ^ "Edicto de la Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia sobre proclamación de candidaturas para las elecciones locales 1999". Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Valencia (116 (2.º suplemento)). Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia: 93. 18 May 1999. Archived from the original on 23 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Edicto de la Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia sobre proclamación de candidaturas para las elecciones locales 2003". Boletín oficial de la Provincia de Valencia (100). Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia. 29 April 2003.
  16. ^ "Edicto de la Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia sobre proclamación de candidaturas para las elecciones locales". Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Valencia (suplemento 2 al núm. 103). Junta Electoral de Zona de Valencia: 92–94. 2 May 1995. Archived from the original on 23 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  17. ISSN 0212-033X
    .
  18. ISSN 0212-033X
    .
  19. ISSN 0212-033X
    .
  20. ISSN 0212-033X
    .
  21. ISSN 0212-033X
    .
  22. ISSN 0212-033X
    .

External links
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Development
2018–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Socialist Group in the Congress of Deputies
Acting
2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of Organization of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
2017-present 		Incumbent
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