Alberto Garzón

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Garzón and the second or maternal family name is Espinosa.

Alberto Garzón
Official photo (2020)
Minister of Consumer Affairs
In office 13 January 2020 – 21 November 2023
Monarch	Felipe VI
Prime Minister	Pedro Sánchez
Preceded by	María Luisa Carcedo (Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare) María Jesús Montero (Finance)
Succeeded by	Pablo Bustinduy (Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda)
General Coordinator of United Left
In office 4 June 2016 – 17 November 2023
Preceded by	Cayo Lara
Succeeded by	Antonio Maíllo
Secretary for Constitutional Process of United Left
In office 28 June 2014 – 4 July 2016
Preceded by	Enrique Santiago
Succeeded by	Esther López Barceló
Secretary for Global Economic Policy of United Left
In office 16 December 2012 – 28 June 2014
Preceded by	José Antonio García Rubio
Succeeded by	José Antonio García Rubio
Member of the Congress of Deputies
In office 13 December 2011 – 17 August 2023
Constituency	Málaga (2011–2016) Madrid (2016–2019) Málaga (2019–2023)
Personal details
Born	Alberto Carlos Garzón Espinosa (1985-10-09) 9 October 1985 (age 39) Logroño, Spain
Political party	Communist Party of Spain (since 2003) United Left (since 2003)
Spouse	Anna Ruiz (m. 2017)
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Malaga

Alberto Carlos Garzón Espinosa (Spanish pronunciation: [alˈβeɾto ˈkaɾlos ɣaɾˈθon espiˈnosa]; born 9 October 1985) is a Spanish former politician and economist. He was the Minister of Consumer Affairs from 2020 to 2023.^[1] He has been a member of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and United Left (Izquierda Unida, IU) since 2003. In the 2011 general election, he was elected as an MP within that coalition. He has been the Secretary of Constituent Process in IU from 2014 to 2016, and in 2015, he was elected as an IU candidate for that year's general election. He is a researcher at Pablo de Olavide University in Seville.

Biography

Family origins and youth

He is the son of Alberto Garzón Blanco, a teacher of Geography and History in Málaga, and Isabel Espinosa Casares, a pharmacist from Cenicero, La Rioja. The two met on a summer trip in Rincón de la Victoria. He spent his early years in Logroño, where he was born. When he was three, the family moved to the Sevilian town of Marchena, where his father had obtained a job as a professor.^[2]

In 1994, the family returned to Rincón de la Victoria. Garzón attended the Manuel Laza Palacios elementary school and the Ben Al Jatib secondary school. He liked football and attempted, unsuccessfully, to make his way into Sports Club Rincón.^[2]

University stage

Garzón initially studied Administration and Management of Corporations at the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences of the University of Málaga, but the following year, he changed to Economics.^[2] When he was 18 years old, he joined United Left The Greens-Andalucía.^[2]

In 2004, he participated in the foundation of Students for a Critical Economy, an association of which he was president until 2008, and that was in the same line as the Post-autistic economics movement born in France a few years earlier. The purpose of that group was academic and militant, since it denounced "the unique thinking and the intellectual emptiness that reigns in the teaching of economics" at the same time as it participated in social movements such like the Social Forum Another Malaga of 2004.^[3] The association would incorporate first as "Left-wing Students", a university association of a left-wing and anticapitalist nature, and later, in the platform of "Critical Students", a union of many progressive groups. Criticism Economy Malaga stood in the students' elections, obtaining 64% of the votes in 2008.^[4]

IU listed Garzón fifth on their candidate list for the 2007 Spanish local elections.^[5]

Garzón later earned his Master's in International Economy and Development at the School of Business & Economic Sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid. It was here that Garzón Sampedro, who Garzón would later publicly thank for being the basis of his school of thought. Other politicians from UL have enrolled within the university's School of Business & Economic Sciences, including Eddy Sánchez, as well as several economic advisors to Unidos Podemos.

Member of the Congress of Deputies

Garzón was first elected as a Deputy in the Spanish Parliament on the IU list for Málaga, following the 2011 Spanish general election.^[6] He was the youngest member of the House of Deputies during that session.

In January 2013, he was elected as a member of IU's Federal Executive Committee.

Minister of Consumer Affairs

Garzón was appointed Minister of Consumer Affairs on 13 January 2020.^[7][8]

In October 2021, Garzón announced that the ministry would ban the advertising of several categories of junk food to children under 16. Such advertising would be forbidden on television, on the radio, online, in movie theaters, and in newspapers. Affected foods include candy, energy bars, cookies, cake, juice, energy drinks, and ice cream. The ban is to take effect during 2022.^[9] In 2022 Garzón triggered controversy by criticizing factory farming, emphasizing its environmental damage and poor-quality meat exports.^[10] He praised traditional grazing as more sustainable but faced backlash from the meat industry, opposition politicians, and senior members of the ruling Socialist Workers party.^[11] Garzón reiterated his concerns on pollution and emissions from factory farming and excessive meat consumption. Spain's livestock industry depends on exports, and his comments received a strong negative reaction from various quarters.^[12] A report linked intensive pork farming to an environmental disaster in Spain, which led to the deaths of thousands of fish.^[13]

References

1. Gilmartin, Eoghan; Greene, Tommy. "Spain's First Communist Minister Since 1939 Was Just Sworn In Today". Jacobon Magazine. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
2. Romero, Antonio M. (1 December 2014). "Un líder precoz". Sur. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
3. "Historia Asociación". Página web de Economía Crítica Málaga (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
4. Porras Fernández, Miguel (28 April 2008). "Resultados electorales Claustro Universidad de Málaga" (PDF) (in Spanish). University of Málaga. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
5. Romero, Antonio M. (1 December 2014). "Un líder precoz". Diario Sur (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 May 2019.
6. Europa Press (2 October 2011). "IULV-CA aprueba sus candidaturas electorales presentando unas listas "cremallera" y "plurales"". 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 May 2019.
7. "Alberto Garzón será ministro de Consumo con competencias sobre el juego y las casas de apuestas". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 5 January 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
8. "Alberto Garzón dirigirá un ministerio de Consumo para completar las competencias de Unidas Podemos". El Mundo (in Spanish). 10 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
9. Medina, Miguel Ángel; Moncloa Allison, Gonzalo (29 October 2021). "Spanish government to ban advertising aimed at children of unhealthy foods such as chocolate, juices and ice creams". El País. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
10. Burgen, Stephen (6 January 2022). "'Poor meat and ill-treated animals': Spain in uproar over minister's remarks". The Guardian.
11. "How a minister's 'poor meat' comments in 'The Guardian' triggered a political storm in Spain". EL PAÍS English. 12 January 2022.
12. "Too much meat? Spain factory farming debate creates beef". France 24. 9 January 2022.
13. "Spanish ministers clash over campaign to eat less meat". BBC News. 8 July 2021.