José Luis Sanz

José Luis Sanz
Mayor of Seville
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 June 2023
Preceded byAntonio Muñoz
Mayor of Tomares
In office
16 June 2007 – 4 October 2021
Preceded byAntonia Hierro Recio
Succeeded byJosé María Soriano Martín
Member of the Senate
In office
11 June 2011 – 21 May 2019
ConstituencySeville
In office
3 December 2019 – 17 August 2023
ConstituencySeville
Personal details
Born (1968-09-21) 21 September 1968 (age 56)
Seville, Andalusia, Spain
Political partyPeople's Party
ResidenceSeville

José Luis Sanz Ruiz (born 21 September 1968)[1] is a Spanish politician. He served as a senator from 2011 to 2023 with a brief interlude in 2019, and as a member of the Parliament of Andalusia from 2000 to 2012. He was mayor of Tomares from 2007 to 2021, and mayor of Seville since 2023.

Personal life

Born in Seville, Sanz graduated in Business and Economic Studies from the University of Seville.[2] As of 2021, he has a son and a daughter.[3]

Political career

Local politics

Sanz joined the People's Party (PP) in 1990.[2] He was elected mayor of Tomares in the Comarca Metropolitana de Sevilla [es] in 2007, serving until he was chosen in 2021 as the PP candidate for mayor of Seville in the 2023 election. Prior to his time in office, Tomares had been dominated by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).[4][3] His party came first with 14 out of 31 seats, requiring negotiations with the three councillors from Vox to form a government.[5] The two parties did not form a coalition and Sanz became mayor in a minority government, with Vox warning him that he would need their support to pass a budget.[6]

In June 2024, disputes over the budget led to a vote of confidence in Sanz, which was approved by the 14 PP members and rejected by the 17 others. The opposition then had a 30-day window to propose a new candidate for mayor.[7]

Senator

President of the Seville branch of the PP since 2007, Sanz was elected to the Senate of Spain by the Seville constituency in the 2011 general election. The result was a historic best for his party, which cut its deficit in the PSOE-dominated constituency by a quarter of a million votes and from 27 percentage points to 3.5.[8] He lost his seat by a 2,500-vote margin in the April 2019 general election,[9] winning it back in November.[10] He said that he would not run in the 2023 Spanish general election in order to concentrate on being mayor of Seville.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Sanz Ruiz, José Luis" (in Spanish). Senate of Spain. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b "José Luis Sanz Ruiz". El Correo de Andalucía (in Spanish). 10 September 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b García Reyes, Alberto (4 October 2021). "José Luis Sanz deja la Alcaldía de Tomares para centrarse en la conquista de Sevilla" [José Luis Sanz leaves office as mayor of Tomares to focus on the conquest of Seville]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  4. ^ "José Luis Sanz, el nombre elegido por el PP para ser alcalde de Sevilla" [José Luis Sanz, the name chosen by the PP to be mayor of Seville]. La Razón (in Spanish). 26 July 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  5. ^ "José Luis Sanz será el alcalde de Sevilla" [José Luis Sanz will be the mayor of Seville] (in Spanish). Canal Sur. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  6. ^ Morente, Antonio (17 June 2023). "José Luis Sanz, el tercer alcalde de Sevilla del PP arranca su etapa con "el espíritu transformador del 92" y con aviso de Vox" [José Luis Sanz, Seville's third PP mayor begins his term with "the transfrormative spirit of '92" and with warning from Vox]. elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  7. ^ Camino, Lucia (7 June 2024). "¿Qué pasará tras la moción de confianza a José Luis Sanz?" [What will happen after the vote of confidence in José Luis Sanz?]. Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  8. ^ "El PP celebra su "mejor resultado" al recortar 250.000 votos y 24 puntos al PSOE" [PP celebrates its "best result" on gaining 250,000 votes and 24 percentage points from PSOE]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 21 November 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  9. ^ González Quiles, Miguel (21 May 2019). "José Luis Sanz: "Podemos y Vox son dos extremos y al final los extremos se tocan"" [José Luis Sanz: "Podemos and Voz are two extremes and in the end extremes meet"]. La Razón (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Elecciones generales 2019: PSOE logra 23 senadores en Andalucía por 9 del PP al 96,8% escrutado" [2019 general election: PSOE achieves 23 senators in Andalusia compared to 9 for the PP with 96.8% of the vote counted] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  11. ^ Trujillo, Rocío M. (5 June 2023). "Sanz no repetirá como senador para "centrarse al cien por ciento" en Sevilla" [Sanz will not run for senator again in order to "centre himself 100%" on Seville]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 June 2024.