Ander Gil García (born 9 February 1974) is a Spanish teacher and politician who served as the 62nd president of the Senate of Spain from 2021 to 2023. Gil has been

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

since 2011 and

Spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

of the Socialist Group in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 2017 to 2021. Previously, Gil served as a local councillor for Valle de Mena from 1995 to 2011.

Biography

Gil was born in

Barakaldo Barakaldo (; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country in Spain. Located on the Left Bank (Biscay), Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is pa ...

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

. He graduated as an elementary school teacher in the University of Burgos and he started his political career at the age of 21, when he was elected local councillor in Valle de Mena, Burgos province. He was appointed by Mayor Armando Robredo Cerro as Councillor for Culture, Education and Youth. He also worked at Biscay in a Reception Center for Foreign Unaccompanied Minors.

National politics

After more than fifteen years in local politics, Gil was appointed candidate to the

for the

Province of Burgos The province of Burgos is a Provinces of Spain, province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia (p ...

for the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

, being elected for the first time in the 2011 general election. He acquired greater fame after the 2016 PSOE crisis when, after supporting Pedro Sánchez, the latter rewarded him by appointed him as

of the Socialist Group in the Senate. On 27 October 2017, Gil defended the application of Article 155 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

in Catalonia from the tribune of the Senate on behalf of the PSOE, after this region held an illegal referendum and approved a disconnection law and a unilateral declaration of independence during the premiership of

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (, ; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a 2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy, vote of no confidence ousted his government. A m ...

( PP). After the vote of no confidence against the government of Rajoy and the election of Pedro Sanchez as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

on 1 June 2018, the PSOE faced an

absolute majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the " Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. For example, if a gr ...

in the Senate of the PP (62 socialist senators vs 146 PP senators), which had the objective of hindering the work of the socialist government, as was demonstrated by the PP veto to increase the limit of expenditure of the General State Budget on 27 December 2018. This veto prevented the use of 6 extra billion euros. During this period of minority government, Gil led the Socialist Parliamentary Group in the Senate managing to approve 86% of their initiatives debated in the Senate. Ander Gil also managed to defend the Prime Minister from the constant attacks of the People's Party, especially his demands to appear in the Senate without agreeing with the rest of the political forces and the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

itself. These PP attacks provoked an unprecedented scenario on 24 January 2019, when the PP convened an extraordinary plenary session in the Senate for the appearance of Pedro Sánchez, while he was at the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

meeting in

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

(

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

). In December 2018, he was named "Senator of the Year" by the Association of Parliamentary Journalists. He ran for re-election in the 2019 general election, being re-elected for the third time and becoming the most voted senator in the

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, above his direct rival, the Mayor of Burgos, Javier Lacalle, from the People's Party. This was the first time in democracy that a candidate from the left managed to be the most voted senator. Also in this elections, the

got an absolute majority for the first time since 1993. As a reward for his job during the minority government, Sánchez nominated him again to lead the Socialist Group in the Senate, a nomination that was approved by the Executive Body of the Party. In July 2021, the 61st president of the Senate, Pilar Llop, resigned after her nomination as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. Because of this, the majority of the chamber elected Gil as the 62nd President of the Senate of Spain on 12 July 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gil, Ander 1974 births Living people Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Members of the Senate of Spain Presidents of the Senate of Spain People from Barakaldo Spanish municipal councillors University of Burgos alumni Members of the 13th Senate of Spain Members of the 12th Senate of Spain Politicians from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Members of the 15th Senate of Spain