Luis Ayllón
The politician and economist Josep Piqué, who was Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2000 and 2002 under the government of José María Aznar, died yesterday at the Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid at the age of 68.
Born in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona) in 1955, Piqué, who graduated in Economics and Law, was chosen by Aznar in 1996 to head the Ministry of Industry and Energy, a post he held until 2000, while also serving as Government spokesman between 1998 and 2000.
As head of Industry, he was responsible for the privatisation processes of such important companies as Telefónica, Repsol and Endesa.
During Aznar’s second term in office in La Moncloa, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. He remained in that post until July 2002, when he became Minister of Science and Technology, leaving the Santa Cruz Palace in the hands of Ana Palacio.
During his time as Foreign Minister, in addition to emphasising so-called economic diplomacy, Piqué supported Aznar’s policy of firmness towards Morocco, to which Mohamed VI tried to respond with the assault on the islet of Perejil, a conflict with which Ana Palacio had to deal, just one day after taking office.
Among other issues, Piqué tried to make progress in resolving the Gibraltar dispute, negotiating with his then British counterpart, Jack Straw, an agreement on the basis of co-sovereignty of the territory between Spain and the UK.
The proposal, which the Gibraltarian rulers at the time did not view favourably, did not go ahead, mainly because London placed numerous obstacles in the way of the future legal status of the naval base and other military installations, a problem that remains at the heart of the difficulties in reaching an understanding on the future of Gibraltar after the UK’s exit from the EU.
In a report that Piqué prepared for the Foundation for Analysis and Social Studies (FAES), chaired by José María Aznar, he recalled that the naval base stumbling block, together with the lasting or definitive nature of the co-sovereignty agreement and the nature of an eventual binding referendum in Gibraltar, was what derailed the project.
Despite his closeness to Aznar, Josep Piqué acknowledged, over time, that there were mistakes in the attitude towards Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. “The conviction that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was shared by everyone, including the countries that did not support the war, but it was later realised that this was not the case, and this mistake must be recognised,” he said.
He was a PP candidate for the Presidency of the Generalitat of Catalonia in 2003 and 2006, and subsequently chaired the airline Vueling between 2007 and 2013, when he became CEO of OHL, until 2016, as well as a director of EADS, Seat, Aena and Abengoa.
He was currently executive director of the Foreign Policy Group and the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, had just incorporated him into the economic team of ‘Reformismo21’, the party’s renewed foundation.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, expressed his sorrow at Piqué’s death on his Twitter account, writing: “I always appreciated my conversations with Josep Piqué about the international situation. A man who understood foreign policy as state policy”.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has also expressed his condolences to Piqué’s family and friends, stressing: “He leaves us a public servant, a man committed to civil society and always ready for dialogue”.
José María Aznar, who thanked him for “the excellent work he carried out in all the responsibilities he had to assume and which he did with great loyalty and brilliance”; the also former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Núñez Feijóo, among other politicians, have also written messages of condolence.
The journalist Gloria Lomana, Piqué’s wife, announced that the wake will be held this morning at the M-30 mortuary until two o’clock in the afternoon.
