- published: 31 May 2010
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José María Alfredo Aznar López (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse maˈɾia aθˈnar] ( listen); born 25 February 1953) served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He is on the board of directors of News Corporation and is also a member of the Club de Madrid.
Aznar, born in Madrid in 1953, was the son of Manuel Aznar Acedo, army official, journalist and radio broadcaster, and grandson of Manuel Aznar Zubigaray, a prominent journalist during the Franco era. Both father and grandfather held governmental positions during the years of Spain under Franco. He studied law at the Complutense University of Madrid, graduating in 1975, becoming a Spanish Tax Authority inspector in 1976.
As a teenager, Aznar was a member of the Frente de Estudiantes Sindicalistas (FES), a Student Union supporting the Falange, Franco's one-party fascist organization. After 1977 it would become Falange Española Independiente (FEI).
After the death of Francisco Franco and the restoration of democracy, Aznar joined Alianza Popular (AP) in January 1979, a few months after his wife. In March he became the Secretary General of the party in La Rioja, occupying the post until 1980. In February 1981 he joined the AP's National executive committee. He became Assistant Secretary General in February 1982.
Julio Iglesias (born Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva; September 23, 1943) is a Spanish singer and songwriter whose romantic image, magnetic stage presence, and expressive music made him one of the best-selling artists of all time. By the early 21st century he had sold hundreds of millions of albums in more than a dozen languages. He has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music Entertainment, he is one of the top 15 best-selling music artists in history. While Iglesias rose to international prominence in the 1970s and 1980s as a performer of romantic ballads, his success has continued on as he entered new musical endeavors. He is the father of singer Enrique Iglesias.
Iglesias was born in Madrid, the eldest son of Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga and María del Rosario de la Cueva y Perignat. Iglesias' father's family was from Galicia, and Iglesias' mother an Andalusian.
In the 1960s, he studied law in Madrid and was a goalkeeper for one of Real Madrid's football teams. On September 22, 1963, he was involved in a car crash, resulting in an injury to his spinal cord. He said, "I had a car accident; [a] very, very strange car accident...I lost control of the car and rolled it, resulting in what they call 'paraparexia,' which is not paraplegia. It's a compression in the [spinal] cord, in the sense of the neck...my spinal cord; and I was very, very ill for three years." His doctors thought he would never walk again; indeed, his legs were left permanently weakened, and they continued to require therapy as of late October 2010. However, slowly, he began recovering his health. To develop and increase the dexterity of his hands, he began playing guitar. When he recovered from his accident, he resumed academic studies and traveled to the United Kingdom to study the English language, first in Ramsgate, then at Bell Educational Trust's Language School in Cambridge.
Los grandes éxitos de José María Aznar (aznaradas).wmv
José María Aznar hablaba en 2002 de su "amigo Hugo Chávez"
Julio Iglesias: "José María Aznar cumplió su labor perfectamente bien, es un estoico" - Salvados
El debate de Felipe González y José María Aznar - 25 años de historia
Entrevista a José María Aznar
Ciudadano Cake: Aznar, crónica de un atentado
1996, el año de José María Aznar
Reportaje sobre José María Aznar en Informe Semanal (1/2)
Jose Maria Aznar recibido con gritos de "criminal" y "fascista" en la universidad en Oviedo
Entrevista a Jose Maria Aznar 20130521
Carlos Herrera entrevista a José María Aznar. Presentacion de 'Memorias I'
El Intermedio - "José María Aznar me parece un mequetrefe"
Entrevista a José María Aznar - Diario Las Américas - DLATV
José María Aznar, sobre su vuelta a la política en Antena 3 Noticias - ANTENA 3 TV