I am the son of Antonio, a rural teacher, and Josefina, a shoemaker and housewife. My only sister is called Irene and she is also a teacher. My brother-in-law Antonio is a metal carpenter, and my niece Lidia is a teacher. I am married to the woman of my life, Susana.
That's who I am, that's who we are, simple people who fight every day for their dreams, for a better life. We love and support each other. That's my family.
I was born in 1972, in Tarrasa (province of Barcelona, Spain). I lived my first 14 years in Rajadell, a small town where my father was the teacher. There I learned many things about life, among others, to dance caramelles y bastons, very beautiful Catalan traditions. In 1986 we moved to Almeria, where my parents are originally from and there I continued growing up and finished high school. I had a modest childhood and youth, but full and happy.
Once I turned 18, together with a friend from that time, I left for Madrid. We started the journey in a feed truck (which transported hams) that offered to take us to the city in order to study and look for a life there.
At first, as it could not be otherwise, I was the typical provincial who, thanks to family effort, arrived for the first time in the capital, full of illusions and dreams. Fortunately, and not without overcoming a good number of challenges, I was able to overcome all the exams and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism at the Faculty of Information Sciences of the Complutense University. Years later, I completed my studies with a Master's Degree in Business Administration at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid.
Those student years marked my life forever, opened my mind and spirit, and changed my worldview forever.
At the end of my first year of university studies, I started working in the Telegenia department of the Popular Party of Spain. This allowed me to know a world that marked my life forever as well: politics. And it was there, as if nothing, where the two worlds came together, that of communication and journalism with that of politics. Nothing was the same ever again. Today I look back and realize that more than half of my life has been spent directing electoral campaigns and advising governments in more than 30 countries that add up to more than 500 electoral processes spread around the world. When I am calm, with a glass of wine in my hand, I reflect on the things that had happened to me in order to live so intensely, doing what I love, sharing so many campaigns and feeling closely how world leaders trusted me to build their own paths.
In the struggle of these scenarios, I became an observer of societies, more as a result of being a stray dog than of studying systematically. My spirit was tempered, and continues to do so, in the heat of the battle of life itself and that has allowed me to build my own path, which leads me, together with Susana, my wife and life partner, to try to change what we do not like in this world with our bit. It is a calling of service in the broad sense of the expression.
In addition to politics and communication, I work as an entrepreneur in different areas such as energy, banking and education. I love entrepreneurship and since my first business adventure at age 14, I have never stopped doing it. Today I see how businesses in which I invested love, time and money are flourishing. They make me proud because it is also a way to contribute and improve the world we live in. Obviously, they are all businesses that share the cause I believe in.
At this point in my life, I feel challenging and disruptive. I claim the death of ideologies, the extinction of traditional politics as we know it today and the birth of a new direct and participatory democracy for the coming decades. I put in check the traditional theses of leadership and I propose a new mediation between the citizen and his/her leaders so that we own and share the responsibility of public governance.
At this stage of my life, I feel defiant and disruptive. I uphold the death of ideologies, the extinction of traditional politics as we know it today, and the birth of a new direct and participatory democracy for the coming decades. I challenge traditional theses on leadership and propose a new mediation between citizens and their leaders so that the responsibility for governing public affairs is shared by everyone.
