Eduardo Zaplana

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Eduardo Zaplana

|office = Minister of Labor and Social Issues

|order =

|image = Eduardo Zaplana en la rueda de prensa posterior al Consejo de Ministros (cropped).jpg

|alt =

|smallimage =

|caption = Eduardo Zaplana, 2004

|predecessor = Juan Carlos Aparicio

|president = José María Aznar

|successor = Jesús Caldera

|footnotes =

|signature =

|signature_alt =

|office2 = President of the Valencian Government

|predecessor2 = Joan Lerma

|party = People's Party

|vicepresident2 = José Luis Olivas

|successor2 = José Luis Olivas

|birth_name = Eduardo Andrés Julio Zaplana Hernández-Soro

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|4|3|df=y}}

|birth_place = Cartagena, Murcia, Spain

|death_date =

|death_place =

|nationality = Spanish

|otherparty = Union of the Democratic Centre

|spouse = Rosa Barceló

|partner =

|relations =

|children = 3

|residence =

|alma_mater =

|occupation =

|profession =

|cabinet =

|committees =

|portfolio =

|religion =

|website =

|imagesize = 200px

|term_start = 10 July 2002

|term_end = 18 April 2004

|term_start2 = 3 July 1995

|term_end2 = 10 July 2002

|office3 = Member of the Congress of Deputies

|term_start3 = 14 March 2004

|term_end3 = 9 March 2008

|constituency3 = Valencia

|term_start4 = 9 March 2008

|term_end4 = 30 April 2008

|constituency4 = Madrid

|restingplace =

|restingplacecoordinates =

}}

Eduardo Andrés Julio Zaplana Hernández-Soro (born 3 April 1956) is a Spanish politician who served as Minister of Labour and Social Issues from 2002 to 2004, President of the Valencian Government from 1995 to 2002 and Spokesperson of the Partido Popular (PP) in the Spanish Congress of Deputies from 2004 to 2008.

Biography

A lawyer, Zaplana studied at the University of Alicante.

After involvement in the now defunct Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), Zaplana joined PP. He served as mayor of Benidorm from 1991 to 1994; he also served in the Valencian Regional Parliament as a deputy, becoming president of the Valencian Community in 1995, a position he held until 24 July 2002. He resigned after being appointed Minister of Employment and Social Security, a post he held until the 2004 General Election.

He served as a senator from 2002 until 2004, when he was elected to the Spanish Congress, representing Valencia and becoming PP's main spokesman in Congress.

For 2008, he changed electoral districts, moving to Madrid, where he was fourth on the PP list.{{cite news |url=http://www.elperiodico.cat/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=46&idioma=CAT&idnoticia_PK=476965&idseccio_PK=1008 |title=Mato i Zaplana seran els números tres i quatre de la llista electoral del PP per Madrid |newspaper=El Periódico de Catalunya |author=EFE |author-link=EFE |date=23 January 2008 |access-date=27 November 2019 |language=ca |location=Madrid |archive-url=https://www.elperiodico.cat/ca/politica/20080123/mato-i-zaplana-seran-els-84129 |archive-date=6 July 2011}} Following PP's election defeat in March 2008, he resigned as PP Spokesman, stating that he intended to become a backbench MP.{{Cite news |url=http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_15565.shtml |title=Eduardo Zaplana quits as the Partido Popular spokesman in Congress |access-date=27 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080320001517/http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_15565.shtml |archive-date=20 March 2008 |author=h.b. |date=13 March 2008 |work=Typically Spanish}} On 29 April, he resigned as PP MP altogether, announcing that he would become a European delegate for Telefónica.

In 2017, the media reported some of his opinions about Spanish conservative leaders.{{Cite news |url=http://cadenaser.com/ser/2017/11/15/tribunales/1510735924_667889.html |title=Los trapos sucios del PP, al descubierto en las grabaciones del caso Lezo |location=Madrid |date=15 November 2017 |access-date=27 November 2019 |work=Cadena SER |language=es}}

In May 2018, Eduardo Zaplana was arrested for money laundering and bribery. The general coordinator of PP, Fernando Martínez Maíllo, announced that party will suspend Zaplana's party membership.{{cite news |url=http://www.turkeytelegraph.com/politics/the-pp-announces-that-it-will-suspend-from-militancy-to-zaplana-h17856.html |title=The PP announces that it will suspend from militancy to Zaplana |newspaper=Turkey Telegraph |date=22 May 2018 |access-date=27 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707093045/http://www.turkeytelegraph.com/politics/the-pp-announces-that-it-will-suspend-from-militancy-to-zaplana-h17856.html |archive-date=7 July 2018}}

Personal life

He is married with three children.

References

External links

Biography at Spanish Congress site. [http://www.congreso.es/portal/page/portal/Congreso/Congreso/Diputados/DipCircuns/ComAutVal?_piref73_1333408_73_1333405_1333405.next_page=/wc/fichaDiputado&idDiputado=231]
Transcription of telephone conversation between Eduardo Zaplana and Salvador Palop related to the Naseiro corruption case (in Spanish). [http://www.cadenaser.com/articulo/espana/Zaplana/caso/Naseiro/csrcsrpor/20051124csrcsrnac_6/Tes/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091215122750/http://www.cadenaser.com/articulo/espana/Zaplana/caso/Naseiro/csrcsrpor/20051124csrcsrnac_6/Tes |date=2009-12-15 }}