The Catalan politician, economist and businessman Josep Piqué died early Thursday morning at the 12 de Octubre hospital in Madrid at the age of 68. The family has announced it through a statement, advanced by the journalist Carlos Herrera in La Cope, and the PP has confirmed it minutes later.
“It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of our husband and father, Josep Piqué Camps, on October 12 in Madrid. His personal integrity, his strength, his love for family, work and his fight for life will accompany us always,” reads the text.
The former Catalan businessman, economist and politician held different portfolios during the PP governments of José MarÃa Aznar (1996 and 2003), including that of Minister of Industry, Foreign Affairs and Science and Technology. From October 2002 to July 2007 he was the president of the Popular Party of Catalonia (PPC). Piqué was also a regular contributor to La Vanguardia. The latest article from him Is China Capitalist? he posted it less than a month ago.
From December 2007 to August 2013, Piqué was the president of the Vueling airline. On October 1, 2013, he was appointed CEO and second vice president of OHL.
From the PP, his time secretary for institutional action, Esteban González Pons, has lamented the death of the one who was also a spokesman for the Aznar executive. “In addition to being a benchmark in international relations, industry and constitutionalism, he represented an intelligent way of doing politics,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “Yes, Piqué was intelligence, education, dialogue and good humour. He leaves us an irrefillable gap”, he added.
From Foment del Treball they have mourned the death of Piqué, “a wise and affable person, with a broad economic and business vision, and collaborator of Foment in various fields such as in the commission for the expansion of the airport” of El Prat.
Josep Piqué was born on February 21, 1955 in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona), the son of José Piqué Tetas, the last Francoist mayor of the Garraf capital, later affiliated with the UCD. He studied Economics and Business Sciences, as well as Law, at the University of Barcelona, ​​a center where he was a professor and taught Economic Theory classes. In the 1980s he began business activities with Macià Alavedra, who introduced him to the circles of the KIO group. Piqué came to preside over the companies Erkimia (1989), Fesa-Enfersa (1991) and Ercros (1992).
In his youth he was a member of left-wing political organizations, such as the PSUC and Bandera Roja. He was a classmate of Anna Birulés, Minister of Science and Technology in the Aznar government.
When the Popular Party (PP) formed a government in Spain in 1996, with José MarÃa Aznar as president, Piqué was appointed Minister of Industry, even without being a militant. Towards the end of 1998 he combined the Industry portfolio with that of Government spokesman. In the following legislature, he held the positions of Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2002, and Minister of Science and Technology from 2002 to 2003. From October 2002 to July 2007, he was the president of the Popular Party of Catalonia (PPC). .
As Foreign Minister, he sided with Aznar with the positions of the US government of George W. Bush just before the invasion of Iraq, unlike other European countries, and publicly supported the de facto president of Venezuela, Pedro Carmona Estanga, who held office for two days while attempting to overthrow Hugo Chávez in a coup on April 11, 2002.
Josep Piqué ran as a PPC candidate in the 2003 parliamentary elections and came in fourth, after CiU, PSC and ERC. On July 19, 2007, Josep Piqué submitted his irrevocable resignation as president of the PPC and parliamentary deputy after making public the decision of the party’s national general secretary, Ãngel Acebes, not to have Piqué’s trusted men responsible for the campaign committee of the catalan PP for the general elections.
