José Antonio Nieto

José Antonio Nieto Ballesteros (born 10 April 1970)[1] is a Spanish politician of the People's Party.

He was a city councillor in Guadalcázar (1995–1999) and Córdoba (1999–2016), as well as mayor of the latter from 2011 to 2015. He was also a member of the Parliament of Andalusia (2008–2014; 2018–2022), and the Congress of Deputies for the two legislatures of 2016.

Nieto was Spain's Secretary of State for Security from 2016 to 2018. He was named the Minister of Justice in the Regional Government of Andalusia in 2022.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Guadalcázar in the Province of Córdoba, Nieto graduated with a law degree from the University of Córdoba. He began in politics with the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), for whom he was their youth leader in Andalusia from 1989 to 1991. He was a candidate in the 1989 Spanish general election and the 1990 Andalusian regional election.[1]

Switching to the People's Party (PP), Nieto was a councillor in Guadalcázar from 1995 to 1999, when he was elected to the same body in Córdoba. He was also a member of the provincial deputation from 1999 to 2005, and was elected leader of the PP in Córdoba in 2006, remaining so until 2017.[1]

Mayor of Córdoba

Nieto was elected to the Parliament of Andalusia in 2008. In the 2011 Spanish local elections he was elected mayor of Córdoba as the PP won an absolute majority with 16 out of 29 seats, ending 12 years of left-wing governance in the city. His predecessor, Andrés Ocaña of the United Left (IU), did not attend the ceremony. Nieto pledged an austerity plan that he said would save €20 million from the municipal budget.[2]

Nieto resigned from the Parliament of Andalusia in October 2014 after the Constitutional Court upheld a regional law disallowing mayors from holding a seat in the legislature.[3] Nonetheless, he was placed 12th in the PP list for the Córdoba constituency in the 2015 Andalusian regional election – a placement that would require a 100% victory for him to be elected.[4]

Congressman and Secretary of State

After the 2015 elections, Nieto's PP were the largest party in Córdoba but short of a majority. He offered to form a three-party coalition government with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Citizens.[5] In the end, PSOE candidate Isabel Ambrosio was elected mayor with the support of the 7 councillors from her party, and 4 each from the IU and local left-wing party Ganemos.[6]

Nieto was chosen as the PP's list leader in the Córdoba constituency for the 2015 Spanish general election, replacing fellow former capital mayor Rafael Merino.[7] After being elected again in 2016, he was named Secretary of State for Security, serving under Juan Ignacio Zoido in the Ministry of the Interior.[8] He left his seats in Córdoba City Council and the Congress of Deputies upon this appointment.[9] In 2018, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit.[10]

Return to regional politics

Having lost his national role due to a change of government, Nieto returned to regional politics and was placed first in the PP's list in Córdoba for the 2018 Andalusian regional election.[11] After one four-year term, he announced that he would not run for re-election in the next election as he wanted there to be new figures in the party; he said that he wished to continue working with Juanma Moreno, the leader of the People's Party of Andalusia and President of the Regional Government of Andalusia.[12]

The PP under Moreno won an absolute majority in those elections. In July 2022, Nieto was appointed as Minister of Justice in Moreno's second government.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c Robles, Ángel (25 July 2022). "José Antonio Nieto, tres décadas en política y un nuevo cargo: consejero de Justicia, Administración Local y Función Pública" [José Antonio Nieto, three decades in politics and a new role: minister of Justice, Local Administration and Public Function]. Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  2. ^ "Nieto ya es el alcalde de Córdoba". El Día de Córdoba (in Spanish). EFE. 11 June 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  3. ^ "Nieto deja esta semana su escaño en el Parlamento de Andalucía". Córdoba (in Spanish). 29 October 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  4. ^ Granado, Olga (18 February 2015). "El PP-A incluye a una docena de alcaldes en sus listas del 22M pese a la incompatibilidad de cargos" [PP in Andalusia includes a dozen mayors in their lists for the 22 March elections despite the roles being incompatible]. elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  5. ^ "Nieto ofrece un pacto a PSOE y C's tras "fracasar" el acuerdo de izquierdas" [Nieto offers a pact to PSOE and C's after the "failure" of the left-wing agreement]. El Día de Córdoba (in Spanish). EFE. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  6. ^ Reina, Carmen (13 June 2015). "Y 79 años después, el PSOE volvió a la alcaldía de Córdoba" [And 79 years later, the PSOE returns to the Córdoba mayor's office]. elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  7. ^ "Nieto encabeza la lista del PP al Congreso por Córdoba" [Nieto heads the PP list for Congress for Córdoba]. Córdoba (in Spanish). 6 November 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  8. ^ "El Gobierno renueva las cúpulas de Interior, Defensa y Presidencia" [Government renews the heads of the Ministries of the Interior, Defence and the Presidency] (in Spanish). RTVE. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  9. ^ "Nieto (PP) deja el Ayuntamiento de Córdoba y el Congreso de los Diputados" [Nieto (PP) leaves Córdoba City Council and Congress of Deputies]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Europa Press. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Real Decreto 1156/2018, de 7 de septiembre, por el que se concede la Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil a las personalidades que se citan" [Royal Decree 1156/2018, of 7 September, by which the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit is awarded to the cited persons.] (in Spanish). Boletín Oficial del Estado. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  11. ^ Rodríguez, Chema (18 October 2018). "Las listas del 2-D reabren las heridas en el PP andaluz" [The lists for the 2 December elections re-open the wounds in the Andalusian PP]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  12. ^ León, José Manuel (11 May 2022). "José Antonio Nieto: "No voy a ser un obstáculo para la regeneración de mi partido"" [José Antonio Nieto: "I won't be an obstacle for the regeneration of my party"] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  13. ^ "José Antonio Nieto asume "con humildad y compromiso" la responsabilidad de ser el nuevo consejero de Justicia" [José Antonio Nieto assumes "with humility and commitment" the responsibility of being the new Minister of Justice] (in Spanish). Europa Press. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
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