Alfonso Rueda Valenzuela (born 8 July 1968) is a Spanish People's Party (PP) politician. Elected to the

Parliament of Galicia The Parliament of Galicia () is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. It is formed by 75 deputies (). Deputies are elected every four years in ordinary period, or extraordinarily upon dissolu ...

in 2009, he succeeded

Alberto Núñez Feijóo Alberto Núñez Feijóo (, ; born 10 September 1961) is a Spanish politician who serves as Member of the Congress of Deputies and as president of the People's Party (Spain), People's Party. He served as the president of the Regional Government o ...

as president of the

People's Party of Galicia The People's Party of Galicia ( Galician & Spanish: ''Partido Popular de Galicia'' , PP or PPdeG ) is a conservative political party in Galicia, Spain. It is the Galician affiliate of the Spanish People's Party. Prior to the 2005 Galician e ...

(PPdeG) and

President of the Regional Government of Galicia The president of the Regional Government of Galicia (, ), is the head of government of Galicia. The president leads the executive branch of the regional government. The current office is established under the Galician Statute of Autonomy. It is ...

in 2022. In the 2024 election, he led the party to another absolute majority.

Biography

Born in

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

, Rueda is the son of Antonio Rueda Crespo, a

People's Alliance People's Alliance may refer to: * People's Alliance ( ''Volksunie''), Belgian political party which split in 2001 into the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie and Spirit * People's Alliance (Bulgaria), a Bulgarian party from 1921 to 1923 * People's Alliance ( ...

councillor in the city. He graduated in law from the

University of Santiago de Compostela The University of Santiago de Compostela - USC (, ) is a public university located in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. A second campus is located in Lugo, Galicia. It is one of the world's oldest universities in continuous o ...

, and joined the New Generations of the People's Party in 1993. From 2000 to 2005, Rueda was Director General of Local Administration in the government of

Manuel Fraga Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who was also one of the founders of the People's Alliance (Spain), People's Alliance (AP). Fraga ...

, and also served as minister of Public Administration and Justice. He was appointed secretary general of the

(PPdeG) by its president

in 2006. In 2009, having been elected to the

by the Pontevedra constituency, he became an advisor to

President of Galicia The president of the Regional Government of Galicia (, ), is the head of government of Galicia. The president leads the executive branch of the regional government. The current office is established under the Galician Statute of Autonomy T ...

Feijóo, becoming vice president three years later. He took 97.14% of the votes in March 2016 to succeed Rafael Louzán as president of the PPdeG in the

Province of Pontevedra Pontevedra is a province of Spain, located in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, and Ourense, the country of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. There is a public insti ...

. In 2022, Feijóo announced his departure to be the PP's national leader. Rueda was the sole candidate to replace him as leader of the PPdeG in April, and he was elected by the Parliament to replace him as regional president in May. He formed a government, with the only difference from its predecessor being Diego Calvo as second vice president. He won the following Galician elections with 40 seats, losing two, and another absolute majority.

Political views

In 2009, while secretary general of the PPdeG, Rueda attended a march by , an organisation that believes that the

Galician language Galician ( , ), also known as Galego (), is a Iberian Romance languages, Western Ibero-Romance language. Around 2.4 million people have at least some degree of competence in the language, mainly in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, an Autonomo ...

is imposed upon the Spanish-speaking residents of the region. In 2022, after being installed as president, he was criticised for this attendance by leader of the opposition

Ana Pontón Ana Belén Pontón Mondelo (born 27 July 1977) is a Spanish political scientist and politician for the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG). She has served in the Parliament of Galicia since 2004, and in 2016 was the first woman to be elected spokespe ...

; he defended himself by saying that the event was to uphold the bilingual status of the region.

Personal life

Rueda is the father of two daughters. He takes part in long-distance running and cycling, and is a fan of

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rueda, Alfonso 1968 births Living people People from Pontevedra People's Party (Spain) politicians Members of the 8th Parliament of Galicia Members of the 9th Parliament of Galicia Members of the 10th Parliament of Galicia Government ministers of Galicia (Spain) Presidents of the Regional Government of Galicia