Albert Rivera

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Rivera and the second or maternal family name is Díaz.
Albert Rivera
Member of the Congress of Deputies
Assumed office
7 January 2016
President of Citizens
Assumed office
9 July 2006
Preceded by Position established
Member of the Catalan Parliament
In office
1 November 2006  4 August 2015
Personal details
Born Albert Rivera Díaz
(1979-11-15) 15 November 1979
Barcelona, Spain
Political party People's Party (2003–2006)
Citizens (2006–present)
Spouse(s) Mariona Saperas
Children Daniela
Alma mater Ramon Llull University

Albert Rivera Díaz (legal name: Alberto Carlos Rivera Díaz, born 15 November 1979) is a Spanish lawyer and politician, who has been the leader of Citizens since July 2006. He is a member of the Congress of Deputies and a former member of the Parliament of Catalonia.

Early life and education

Rivera was born in Barcelona. He won the Catalan swimming championships at the age of 16[1] and played for the Granollers water polo team.[2]

He went on to study law at ESADE, part of the Ramon Llull University, completing the degree in 1997. He completed a master's degree in constitutional law from the same institution in 2002.[3] He also studied for one year at the University of Helsinki in Finland, as part of an Erasmus scholarship. He has also taken a course at the George Washington University in political marketing.[2]

After starting his degree in law, he began to be interested in politics by taking part in a debating competition.

Professional career

Once he completed his university studies, Rivera began working as a legal counsel at the La Caixa savings bank in 2002.[3] He stopped working for La Caixa in 2006 when he became the president of Citizens.[2]

Political career

Rivera was elected as the president of Citizens during their founding conference in July 2006. He was re-elected as president again in 2007 and 2011.

Rivera was first elected to the Parliament of Catalonia in the 2006 parliamentary election, and remained a member until he stepped down before the 2015 parliamentary election. Launching the Citizen's campaign for the Parliament of Catalonia in 2006, Rivera published a number of leaflets where he posed naked alongside the caption: "We don't care where you were born. We don't care which language you speak. We don't care what kind of clothes you wear. We care about you."[4] Rivera, and the wider Citizens party, are opposed to Catalan independence.[5]

References

  1. http://www.elmundo.es/especiales/2006/10/elecciones-cataluna/candidatos/rivera.html Perfil de Albert Rivera en elmundo.es
  2. 1 2 3 Valdivia, Antonio Ruiz (22 February 2015). "23 cosas que no sabías de Albert Rivera". El Huffington Post (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Currículum Vitae de Albert Rivera". Modelo Curriculum (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  4. Clark, Amy (7 October 2006). "Candidate Bares Naked Truth, Literally". CBS News. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  5. "Clean hands". The Economist. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
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