Ximo Puig

Ximo Puig
President of the Generalitat Valenciana
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 June 2015
Monarch	Felipe VI
Preceded by	Alberto Fabra
Personal details
Born	4 January 1959 Morella, Castellón, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Political party	PSPV-PSOE
Children	2
Occupation	Journalist, Politician

Joaquim Francesc Puig i Ferrer (Valencian: [ˈtʃimo ˈputʃ]; Morella, Castellón, 1959), known as Ximo Puig, is a Spanish politician who has served as leader of the Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV-PSOE), a regional branch of the PSOE, since March 2012. He is the current President of the Valencian government.

Career

A journalist by profession, he worked for local newspapers and for the Antena 3 radio station.^[1] He was elected to the Corts Valencianes, the Valencian regional parliament, in the first democratic elections in 1983.^[1] He resigned his seat in 1986, when he was appointed Director General of Institutional relations and information in the Valencian regional administration, serving until 1995.^[1]

In May 1995 he became Mayor of his hometown of Morella, serving until 2012, when he resigned after becoming leader of the PSPV-PSOE.^[2] In the 2011 Spanish General Election he was elected to the Congress of Deputies, representing Castellón Province.^[1] In Congress, he served as spokesman for the committee on industry, energy and tourism.^[1] In March 2014 Puig won the PSPV-PSOE primary to be the party's candidate for President of the Generalitat Valenciana in the 2015 regional elections. He received 68.8% of the votes in the primary.^[3]

On 25 June 2015, he was invested President of the Generalitat Valenciana with the favourable votes of PSPV-PSOE, Podemos and Compromís, succeeding Alberto Fabra and putting an end to two decades of PP governments in the region.

References

1. (Spanish)biography of Ximo Puig, Levante-EMV, 16 April 2015, accessed 20 May 2015
2. (Spanish)El secretario general del PSPV Ximo Puig dejará la alcaldía de Morella el 30 de junio, El Mundo, 3 June 2012
3. (Spanish)El triunfo en primarias blinda a Puig ante un mal resultado en las europeas, El País, 10 March 2014