José Rivas Fontán in 2008

José Rivas Fontán, (San Martín de Verducido, España on August 31, 1941), is a Spanish politician and teacher who was the Mayor of Pontevedra between 1979 and 1991. He withdrew from public activity in 2004 and is currently retired.

Biography

Family

José Rivas Fontán was born on 31 August 1941 in San Martín de Verducido - Xeve, in the municipality and province of Pontevedra. He is the son of Paulino Rivas Maquieira and Elvira Fontán Fontán and was the youngest of three brothers. In 1965, he married Mª Gloria Lis Corral. The couple had four children (María Gloria, Patricia, Mónica and José).

Formation phase and initial political career

He spent his childhood in a parish near the town of Pontevedra, where he attended a state primary school from the age of six. He cycled daily to secondary school and, later, Teacher Training college in Pontevedra, 8 kilometres from his home. He also carried out his compulsory military service in the capital, where he was stationed at the military headquarters. He studied for and passed the state teachers' entry exam in 1963 to become a teacher of adults.

He sat a special exam, set up by the Ministry of Education, for the Organisation of School Services for education inspectors in Pontevedra. There, he launched one of the first teaching applied audiovisual media centres in Spain. At that point, he met Federico Cifuentes Pérez, who was to become his boss and friend and, years later, would turn out to be an essential collaborator in the Pontevedra Teachers Movement (MMS).

In Pontevedra towards the end of the 60s and beginning of the 70s, the educational community began to question the educational system which, as much as was possible at that time, had a labour movement, the Spanish Teaching Service (SEM). The new tendency strove to change it, from within, into democratic unionism. This movement would later spread to all the Spanish provinces. Said democratic organisation clashed with the political regime (Francisco Franco's dictatorship) and after many difficulties and risks, culminated in the “1st EGB Congress of Pontevedra” in 1977. It was attended by representatives from the whole of Spain as well as by the French “Fédération de l’éducation nationale” (FEN).[1] Because of his work in the Education Inspectors Corps, José Rivas Fontán was familiar with the educational structure in his province and, together with other colleagues, organized this movement organically and territorially into democratically elected cells with himself as the first Provincial Secretary of the Association. At this time, the Pontevedra Teachers Association published the only issue of the newspaper TEUCRO [2] which, when it had already been sent to all the provinces, was censored.

Political life

Constituent process

On June 15, 1977, there was a free general election in Spain for the first time since 1931. José Rivas was elected as Deputy for Pontevedra in the Spanish Parliament[3] as a member of the UCD Party. He formed part of the UCD Political Council.[4]

In 1978, he was General Secretary of the Galician Junta's pre-autonomous government under the presidency of Antonio Rosón Pérez. He was Secretary of the Galician Parliamentary Assembly which comprised all elected MPs as well as the senators chosen by the Crown, the Nobel prize winner Camilo José Cela and Domingo García Sabell. He was constituent Secretary of the 16 Commissions,[5] created to draw up the Galician Statutes.

Mayor of Pontevedra

In 1979, he was elected Mayor of Pontevedra for UCD for a 4-year term, then re-elected as an independent candidate for AP and, finally, in 1987, for the Independent Galician Party until 1991.

Due to a prolonged persecution by the Head Judge of number 3 Court in Pontevedra (Luciano Varela), he did not run again in 1991 and left politics. Rivas denounced him to the General Judicial Council and the Ombudsman.[6] After having been tried and judged for anonymous allegations on various occasions, Rivas was acquitted on all counts by the Provincial Court of Pontevedra and the Supreme Court in Madrid.[7]

Latter activities

He was the spokesperson for the Provincial Museum of Pontevedra Trust from 1979 to 1983. In 1980, he was elected vice-president of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP). He was spokesperson for the Executive Commission of the Supreme Sports Council representing town councils [8] and for their Board of Directors.[9] In 1983, he was a member of the Directive Committee of the European Council of Municipalities based in Paris. He was in the Spanish Delegation at the European Council's Regional Powers Conference in Strasbourg, France. In 1985, the Ministry of Public Administration (Ministry and FEMP) set up a National Commission to study the upcoming Local Regimen Law,[10] of which he was vice-president. In 1986, he was appointed a trustee of the Alfredo Brañas Cultural Foundation in Santiago de Compostela. He withdrew from political activity between 1991 and 1996.

Return to Politics

In 1996 and 2000, he was re-elected as an MP in the 6th [11] and 7th [12] legislatures, acting as a member of Commissions for Education, Public Administration, Infrastructure and Defence. As a member of the latter, he was in the Security Commission of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, attending meetings held in various countries around the world (USA, Germany, Russia, Norway, Slovakia, Macedonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, etc.).

Other Interventions

  • Spoke at the Caracas Galician Brotherhood on the theme of the poet Luis Amado Carballo, from Pontevedra[13]
  • Formed part of the Commission on Self-government in the Spanish Senate, studying the upcoming Local Regimen Law[14]
  • Speaker based on the new Local Regimen Law at the summer courses at the International University Menéndez Pelayo in Santander
  • Appeared on the TV programme La Clave, presented by José Luis Balbín, along with other Spanish mayors[15]
  • Stood for the abolition of the death penalty during the drafting of the Spanish constitution (1978)[16]
  • Presented the book “Just Rivas Fontán. Memoirs of a politician far from the flock” at the Municipal Theatre in Pontevedra[17]

Recognitions and awards

  • Member of the Constitutional Order of Merit, with the honours, distinctions and use of insignia corresponding to the Order's regulations, for his relevant activities serving the Constitution[18]
  • Gold Medal and member of the Order of Diego de Losada, Republic of Venezuela[19]
  • Gold Medal from the town council of Lepanto, Greece

Other qualifications

References

  1. ↑ Archivo del antiguo Movimiento de Maestros de Pontevedra
  2. ↑ Depósito legal PO 1- 1975, editado como nº 1, el 1 de enero de 1975
  3. ↑ Ficha Legislatura Constituyente
  4. ↑ Diario "Informaciones" publicado el 3 de diciembre de 1977 (pag. 4)
  5. ↑ Composición del órgano de gobierno de Galicia con personalidad jurídica propia Xunta de Galicia preautonómica
  6. ↑ Fecha presentación de la denuncia ante el Defensor del Pueblo: 26.11.1987
  7. ↑ Sentencia del Tribunal Supremo del 24/02/91 correspondiente al recurso de casación nº 5538/87. Artículo en el "Faro de Vigo" del 12/03/95
  8. ↑ Madrid 10 de octubre de 1981
  9. ↑ Madrid 17 de noviembre de 1981
  10. ↑ Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local
  11. ↑ Ficha VI Legislatura
  12. ↑ Ficha VII Legislatura
  13. ↑ 15 de mayo de 1982
  14. ↑ Diario de sesiones del Senado nº 28 del año 1983
  15. ↑ Programa "La Clave" Alcaldes mayo 1983
  16. ↑ Diario de Sesiones del Congreso de los Diputados nº 105 del año 1978. Pág. 2020
  17. ↑ 23 de mayo de 2016
  18. ↑ Dado por S.M. el Rey Juan Carlos I, en Madrid a 5 de diciembre de 1988. Comunicado por el Ministro de Relaciones con las Cortes y de la Secretaría del Gobierno el 7 de febrero de 1989
  19. ↑ 15 de octubre de 1982
  20. 1 2 Expedido el 15 de enero de 2002

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to José Rivas Fontán.

Bibliography

  • Roberto Taboada Rivadulla (R. Taboada). 30 años de corporaciones municipales. Pontevedra (España): 2010. [ISBN 978-84-613-9475-3].
  • Graciano Palomo (Ediciones Martínez Roca, S.A.). Rumbo a lo desconocido. Historia secreta de los años más convulsos del PP. Madrid (España): 2008. [ISBN 978-84-270-3448-8].
  • Adrián Rodríguez (alvarellos EDITORA). "Solo Rivas Fontán. Memorias de un político lejos del rebaño". Santiago de Compostela (España): 2016. [ISBN 978-84-16460-07-6].
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