Juan Sergio Redondo

Juan Sergio Redondo Pacheco (born 1976 or 1977)[1] is a Spanish historian and politician who has been the leader of Vox in the Assembly of Ceuta since 2019.

Biography

Born in Ceuta, Redondo graduated in Geography and History from the National University of Distance Education (UNED) in the city and completed a doctorate at the University of Granada. He also received a law degree from the former and a teaching degree from the latter.[1] He is a historian at the UNED in Ceuta and has spoken at conferences promoting Spanish claims to Gibraltar.[2][3] He is a member of the self-styled Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, with the rank of Chronicler.[4][5] He played junior football on the same team as Mohamed Alí, the leader of the Caballas Coalition.[4]

Redondo became coordinator of Vox in Ceuta in 2016, and the division's president in 2018.[1] In April 2019, he was named to lead the party's campaign in the Ceuta Assembly election.[6] His party took just under a quarter of the votes, coming third and winning their first six seats in the Assembly.[7] The election resulted in mayor-president Juan Jesús Vivas's People's Party (PP) losing their majority that they had held since 2003, and thereby needing to reach agreements with other parties including Vox in order to govern.[1]

Redondo has called for Ceuta to end public holidays for Eid al-Adha and introduce a day off for the city's saint, Daniel. Vox had endorsed two calendars including Eid al-Adha, ostensibly only so that there would be an official calendar.[8]

A December 2022 poll showed put Vox in first place for the 2023 Ceuta Assembly election with nine seats and 32.83% of the vote.[9] The party ended up in third behind the PP and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), dropping one seat to five.[10]

Legal issues

Redondo took Mohamed Alí to court in January 2020 for having called him a fascist in an Assembly session. The case was thrown out three years later.[11]

In July 2021, Redondo was called to court for having called former Vox member Juan Manuel Aguiar a blackmailer and extortionist for having allegedly leaked racist messages by him.[12] In the messages, a person called for military action against "Moors" if the political process failed, and called Vivas a gilipollas ("wanker") for endorsing multiculturalism. He mocked processions of the Hindu god Ganesha as "taking an elephant for a walk".[13][14] That October, the legal process against him for inciting hatred with the messages was dismissed.[15] On 9 February 2023, he was convicted of libel for falsely accusing Aguiar of a criminal plot, being fined €10,000.[16]

In February 2023, a trial began against Redondo and fellow Vox Ceuta member Francisco José Ruiz for having called the Civil Guards Omar Mohamed and Rachid Sbihi "puppets of the pro-Moroccan far left". The context of these insults was that they had met with Assembly members of the PSOE, Movement for Dignity and Citizenship (MDyC) and the Caballas Coalition during the May 2021 migration crisis, in addition to meeting mayor-president Vivas, whose PP party is on the right.[17]

References

1. Aznar, Luis Manuel (8 June 2020). "Redondo (Vox Ceuta): "Las propuestas son para desvincularnos de la dependencia de Marruecos"" [Redondo (Vox Ceuta): "The proposals are for freeing us from dependence on Morocco"]. El Faro de Ceuta (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 February 2023.
2. "El miércoles se presentan en Algeciras el libro \'Gibraltar Español\' y el foro Recuperemos Gibraltar" [On Wednesday the book \'Spanish Gibraltar\' and the Recover Gibraltar forum will be presented in Algeciras] (in Spanish). Andalucía Información. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
3. "El historiador Redondo Pacheco ofrece una conferencia en la Casa de Ceuta en Algeciras" [Historian Redondo Pacheco offers a conference in the Casa de Ceuta in Algeciras]. La Verdad de Ceuta (in Spanish). 29 April 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
4. "Juan Sergio Redondo: el templario que quiere ser presidente" [Juan Sergio Redondo: the Templar who wants to be president] (in Spanish). Ceuta TV. 11 May 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
5. "Un templario aspira a ser presidente de Ceuta, la ciudad de las 4 culturas" [A templar aspires to be president of Ceuta, the city of the four cultures] (in Spanish). Ceuta al Día. 11 May 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
6. "Juan Sergio Redondo, candidato a la Presidencia de la Ciudad por VOX" [Juan Sergio Redondo, VOX candidate for Mayor-President] (in Spanish). Ceuta TV. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
7. Alba, Nicolás (27 May 2019). "Elecciones 2019: el PP obtiene la victoria en Ceuta pero necesita a Vox para gobernar" [2019 elections: PP obtain victory in Ceuta but need Vox in order to govern]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2022.
8. Echarri, Carmen (21 May 2021). "Vox avisa: cuando gobierne ni final de Ramadán ni el Sacrificio serán festivos" [Vox warns: when we govern neither the end of Ramadan nor Eid will be public holidays]. El Faro de Ceuta (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2022.
9. "Vox gana con casi el 33% y podría gobernar en Ceuta, según la última encuesta para la ciudad" [Vox win with nearly 33% and could govern in Ceuta, according to the latest poll for the city]. El Independiente (in Spanish). 5 January 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
10. Naranjo, Diego (28 May 2023). "Vox pierde la confianza de los ceutíes y un escaño en la Asamblea" [Vox lose the trust of the people of Ceuta and one seat in the Assembly]. El Faro de Ceuta (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 May 2023.
11. "Archivan la causa contra un político localista de Ceuta por un presunto delito de odio a Vox" [Case against Ceuta localist politician for alleged hate crime towards Vox thrown out]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 5 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
12. Matés, Pablo (31 July 2021). "La Justicia cita al líder de VOX, Juan Sergio Redondo, a declarar en septiembre, señalado por injurias" [Court summons VOX leader, Juan Sergio Redondo, to testify in September, accused of libel] (in Spanish). Ceuta al Día. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
13. "Dos nuevos audios atribuidos presuntamente a Redondo (Vox) cargan contra los musulmanes y el Gobierno" [Two new audio clips attributed allegedly to Redondo (Vox) rally against Muslims and the Government]. El Faro de Ceuta (in Spanish). 19 July 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
14. Vargas, Jairo (20 July 2020). "Audios xenófobos atribuidos a líderes de Vox Ceuta tachan de "golfo" al presidente y de "moritos" a los musulmanes" [Xenophobic audio messages attributed to Vox Ceuta leaders call the president a "scoundrel" and Muslims "Moors"]. Público (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2022.
15. "Un juzgado archiva la causa por los mensajes racistas atribuidos a cargos de Vox en Ceuta" [Court dismisses the case of the racist messages attributed to Vox representatives in Ceuta]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). EFE. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
16. Testa, Gonzalo (9 February 2023). "Redondo pagará 10.000 euros por mentir "a sabiendas y con publicidad"" [Redondo will pay 10,000 euros for lying "knowingly and publicly"]. El Faro de Ceuta (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 February 2023.
17. "Redondo y Ruiz no logran evitar que su proceso por un delito de odio contra dos guardias civiles avance" [Redondo and Ruiz fail to halt their trial for hate crime towards two Civil Guards] (in Spanish). Ceuta Actualidad. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.