Ramón Tamames Gómez (born 1 November 1933) is a Spanish economist and former politician. He was a member of the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

and the

City Council of Madrid The City Council of Madrid () is the top-tier administrative and governing body of Madrid, the capital and biggest city of Spain. The city council is composed by three bodies: the mayor, who leads the city council and the executive branch of it; ...

in the early years after the

Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...

. A long-term member of the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain (; PCE) is a communist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is currently part of Sumar. Two of its politicians are Spanish government ministers: Yolanda Díaz (Minister of L ...

(PCE), he left in 1982 and founded the

Progressive Federation Progressive Federation (in Spanish language, Spanish: ''Federación Progresista''; FP) was a Democratic socialism, socialist, Ecologism, ecologist and Pacifism, pacifist political party in Spain. It was created in 1984 by a group led by Ramón Tama ...

(FP) and the United Left (IU). He left politics in 1989 after several months with the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS). In 2023, aged 89, he was proposed as a candidate for

prime minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the Spanish government departments, ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers (Spain), Council of Mini ...

in a

vote of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

tabled by Vox.

Biography

Tamames was born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

as one of five children in a wealthy family in which his father was a surgeon. Suffering from

anaemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availab ...

, he spent some of his early years with his grandparents in rural

Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...

. His mother died by suicide when he was seven, due to her husband's alleged infidelities. He was educated at the

Lycée Français de Madrid Lycée Français de Madrid (LFM, ) is a French international school in Madrid, Spain. It serves levels ''maternelle'' (preschool) until ''lycée'' (senior high school). It is directly operated by the Agency for French Education Abroad. It has two ...

before obtaining degrees in law and economics in the city, concluding his studies at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. He had three children with his wife, Carmen Prieto-Castro. Tamames joined the

(PCE) when it was still illegal in 1956. He entered their executive in 1976 and was elected to the

in the first democratic elections in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, he was elected to the

, again the first such democratic elections. The PCE formed a pact with 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 ...

(PSOE), whose leader

Enrique Tierno Galván Enrique Tierno Galván (Madrid, 8 February 1918 – Madrid, 19 January 1986) was a Spanish politician, sociologist, lawyer and essayist, best known for being the Mayor of Madrid from 1979 to 1986, at the beginning of the new period of Spanish d ...

became mayor and Tamames his first deputy. He quit the PCE in 1981 due to disputes with leader

Santiago Carrillo Santiago José Carrillo Solares (18 January 1915 – 18 September 2012) was a Spanish politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain (main), Communist Party of Spain (PCE) from 1960 to 1982. He was exiled during ...

, and in 1984 he established the

(FP). He helped establish the United Left (IU) and was elected to Congress again in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

. In 1989 he left for the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) of former

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 ...

Adolfo Suárez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected Prime Minister of Spain, prime minister since the Second Spanish Republi ...

. He declined to stand for them in that year's election, and quit politics. In February 2023, aged 89, Tamames put himself forward to be an independent candidate for prime minister if a Vox-proposed

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

in the government of

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has served as Prime Minister of Spain since 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since July 2017, having p ...

were successful. The motion failed on 22 March with 52 votes in favour (Vox plus former

Citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

legislator

Pablo Cambronero Pablo Emérito Cambronero Piqueras (born 1 September 1979) is a Spanish politician. He was elected to the Parliament of Andalusia in 2018 Andalusian regional election, December 2018 and the Congress of Deputies in April 2019 Spanish general electio ...

), 91 abstentions ( People's Party plus one independent) and 201 votes against.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamames, Ramon 1933 births Living people Alumni of the London School of Economics Communist Party of Spain politicians United Left (Spain) politicians Democratic and Social Centre (Spain) politicians Members of the constituent Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 1st Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 3rd Congress of Deputies (Spain) First deputy mayors of Madrid Madrid city councillors (1979–1983) Madrid city councillors (1983–1987) Madrid city councillors (1987–1991)