Luis Miguel Salvador García (born 17 April 1963) is a Spanish politician of the Citizens party. He was mayor of Granada from 2019 to 2021, and was in the Congress of Deputies from 2016 to 2019. Before switching parties in 2013, he was in the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and was in the Senate from 2004 to 2011.

Biography

Born in Córdoba, Salvador graduated in Political Science and Administration at the University of Granada.[1] He later qualified as an international electoral observer at the Diplomatic School of Spain, and was Head of the Cabinet in the Provincial Deputation of Granada.[2]

In 2004, Salvador was elected to the Senate for Granada, and won re-election in 2008.[2] In October 2013, he quit the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) due to his disapproval of regional chief Susana Díaz, and joined Citizens.[3] He contested the 2014 European elections, being unelected as last place on Citizens' list in Andalusia.[4]

In the 2015 local elections, Salvador campaigned to be mayor of Granada. He ordered the Citizens members in the city hall to abstain during the investiture of People's Party (PP) incumbent José Torres Hurtado, having turned down the offer to join him in government.[5] At the end of that year, he returned to national politics, being elected to the Congress of Deputies.[6]

In May 2019, during his campaign to be mayor of Granada, Salvador attracted attention for a post on his website which used analysis from a follower of the pseudoscience of morphopsychology to claim that his cranial features corresponded with positive attributes.[7] Having won only four of 27 seats in the city hall, he was nonetheless made mayor in June after support from the PP (7) and Vox (3).[8] He became one of first seven mayors from his party in medium-sized cities, including the Mayor-President of Melilla;[9] Granada was the largest of those cities.[10]

In December 2020, Salvador attacked the Ministry of the Interior for having transferred some African migrants from the Canary Islands to Granada.[11] Other parties in Granada labelled his rhetoric xenophobic.[12][13]

After the PP withdrew their support in him, Salvador resigned on 2 July 2021. He then supported his PSOE predecessor Francisco Cuenca.[10] He remained in Cuenca's government, as head of Estrategía 2031, the campaign to earn Granada the title of European Capital of Culture for that year.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Luis Salvador: del PSOE a Ciudadanos para ser el alcalde de Granada, con el menor apoyo popular" [Luis Salvador: from the PSOE to Citizens to being the mayor of Granada, with the lowest popular support]. El Independiente de Granada (in Spanish). 15 June 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Luis Salvador: del PSOE a Ciudadanos para ser el alcalde de Granada, con el menor apoyo popular" [Luis Salvador: from the PSOE to Citizens to being the mayor of Granada, with the lowest popular support]. El Independiente de Granada (in Spanish). 15 June 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  3. ^ Forcada, D. (28 October 2013). "El exsenador Luis Salvador abandona el PSOE y se une a Albert Rivera" [Ex-Senator Luis Salvador abandons the PSOE and joins Albert Rivera]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Ciudadanos ve Andalucía "clave" para llegar a Europa e insta a votar porque "en el sofá no se cambia un país"" [Citizens see Andalusia as "key" to reach European Parliament and insist on voting because "the country doesn't get changed while you sit on the sofa"]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 15 May 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  5. ^ Ramos, Ramón (12 June 2015). "Ciudadanos retira su veto a Torres Hurtado y facilitará su investidura" [Citizens end their veto on Torres Hurtado and will ease his investiture]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  6. ^ Marín, R. (21 December 2015). "Ciudadanos logra un diputado al Congreso, resultado menos optimista del esperado" [Citizens achieve one deputy in Congress, a less optimistic result than expected] (in Spanish). Ahora Granada. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  7. ^ Haro García, E. (4 May 2019). "El candidato de Cs en Granada invoca un estudio sobre su cráneo para presentarse a su electorado" [Cs candidate in Granada invokes a study on his cranium to present himself to his electorate]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  8. ^ Rama, Leo (15 June 2019). "Luis Salvador, de Ciudadanos, nuevo alcalde de Granada en minoría absoluta" [Luis Salvador, of Citizens, new mayor of Granada with absolute minority]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  9. ^ García de Blas, Elsa (16 June 2019). "Ciudadanos reflota el poder del PP y solo liderará siete ciudades medianas" [Citizens re-establish the PP's power and will only lead seven medium-sized cities]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  10. ^ a b Arroyo, Javier (1 July 2021). "El alcalde de Granada, Luis Salvador, dimite y anuncia su apoyo a la lista del PSOE, que es la más votada" [The mayor of Granada, Luis Salvador, resigns and announces his support for the PSOE list, the most voted for]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  11. ^ "El alcalde de Granada, sobre la llegada de inmigrantes: "Pensé que era una fake news, no parece de un Gobierno serio"" [The mayor of Granada, on the arrival of immigrants: "I thought it was fake news, it doesn't seem to be the act of a serious government"] (in Spanish). Antena 3. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Denuncian el "discurso xenófobo" de Luis Salvador" [Luis Salvador's "xenophobic discourse" denounced] (in Spanish). La Voz de Granada. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  13. ^ ""Luis Salvador tiene un discurso xenófobo, aporófobo y falso"" ["Luis Salvador's discourse is hateful to foreigners, to the poor, and is false"] (in Spanish). Granada Hoy. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  14. ^ López, Álvaro (26 July 2021). "Luis Salvador entra en el Gobierno municipal del PSOE en Granada" [Luis Salvador enters in the PSOE's municipal government in Granada]. ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 July 2021.
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