José Manuel Soria

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José Manuel Soria (2015)

José Manuel Soria López (born January 5, 1958 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ) is a Spanish politician of the Partido Popular (PP).

life and career

Soria is the son of a fruit exporter.

He grew up in the Canary Islands and studied economics . After graduating, he was a lecturer in microeconomics and international economics at the Centro de Estudios Comerciales de Madrid between 1984 and 1989 , during which time he worked in the Ministry of Commerce .

In the local elections in 1995, he was elected Mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria . His re-election in 1999 was successful, so that he held this office until 2003. From October 1999 he was chairman of the PP in the Canary Islands . From 2003 to 2011 he was a member of the parliament of the Canary Islands and has been chairman of the PP since 2003. He was then from June 2003 to July 2007 President of the Cabildos of Gran Canaria , the island government of Gran Canaria. When he approved deep drilling by the energy company Repsol for gas and oil in the Atlantic off the archipelago, this triggered violent protests. In 2007 he was re-elected, but had to give up the post at the beginning of the legislative period due to a vote of no confidence . Between July 2007 and October 2010 he was Vice President of the Government of the Canary Islands under President Paulino Rivero .

From 2011 he was a member of the Congreso de los Diputados for the constituency of Gran Canaria . On December 22, 2011, he was appointed Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade in the Rajoy I cabinet.

He resigned on April 15, 2016 after the Panama Papers revealed that he was the director of mailbox companies in the Bahamas and the British Channel Island of Jersey and, along with other members of his family, a network of mailbox companies in these tax havens operates. At first he denied that the family name Soria was not uncommon in Spain, and the combination of the first names José and Manuel was also popular. It was not until the television station La Sexta , which was involved in evaluating the Panama Papers, documents from Mechanical Trading Ltd. presented in Jersey in order to compare his signatures with those on instructions from his ministry, he resigned from all political offices. He also gave up the chairmanship of the PP in the Canary Islands, where he was already implicated in several corruption scandals.

Soria is married and has two children.

Web links

Commons : José Manuel Soria  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fallce Pilar López, madre de José Manuel Soria. March 28, 2010, Retrieved January 7, 2012 (Spanish).
  2. ^ José Manuel Soria, ministro de Industria. December 21, 2011, Retrieved January 7, 2012 (Spanish).
  3. ↑ Una moción socialista desbanca del Cabildo al líder del PP canario. In: El País. Retrieved June 28, 2007, January 7, 2012 (Spanish).
  4. ↑ Panama Papers: Spanish Minister resigns. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. April 15, 2016, Retrieved April 15, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Spain: It was him. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. April 15, 2016, Retrieved April 15, 2016 .


personal data
SURNAME Soria, José Manuel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Soria López, José Manuel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish politician of the Partido Popular (PP)
DATE OF BIRTH 5th January 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Las Palmas de Gran Canaria