Anguita was born in
Fuengirola,
Málaga, on 21 November 1941, into a family with a military background, son of an army sergeant and grandson of a
guardia civil. Anguita, who had been a militant in Christian grassroots movements, joined the clandestine
Communist Party of Spain (PCE) in 1972, when he already had obtained a post as teacher.
Mayor of Córdoba In 1979, Anguita was
elected as Mayor of
Córdoba with a clear majority in the first municipal elections of the current democracy, which thus acquired the distinction of being the first provincial capital governed by Communists since the
Second Republic. His administration overcame the misgivings felt by many, contributing to the establishment of democratic normality and earning him appreciation as a leader in his party, as well as the tensions with the councilors of the
PSOE and
UCD. He was
reelected in 1983 with an overwhelming absolute majority, earning the nickname
the Red Caliph. It was in this second term when he requested
UNESCO for the declaration of the
Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba as
World Heritage Site, which was finally achieved in 1984. In 1986 he resigned and announced that he would not seek reelection. However, shortly afterwards he would jump into the Andalusian political sphere when he became a candidate of the United Left (IU) for the
President of the Regional Government of Andalusia in the
1986 regional election in which he obtained 19 seats and the third political force in
Parliament of Andalusia.
Secretary General of the PCE and leader of IU next to PM
José María Aznar in 1999 In February 1988 Anguita was elected as secretary general of the
Communist Party, and the following year he became the leader of United Left, becoming the candidate to Prime Minister in the
1989 general election gaining 17 seats in the
Congress of Deputies. He was also candidate in the
1993 and
1996 elections, the years when IU had better than average electoral results. He was famously accused multiple times of making a "pincer" against the PSOE teaming up with the
People's Party. Anguita later declared that "the pincer" (
la pinza) had been a fabrication of the media and disgruntled IU members such as
Diego López Garrido and
Cristina Almeida who ultimately formed the
Democratic Party of the New Left. He left the general secretariat on 5 December 1998 during the XV Congress of the PCE, asking communist militants to demand the principles of anti-capitalism, anti-system and the fight for an egalitarian society. He politically equated the PSOE and the PP and called on the militancy to regain the fight on the street. After a third cardiovascular problem at the end of 1999 he relinquished his candidacy for chairman in the
2000 general election to
Francisco Frutos on health issues. Likewise, he was relieved as general secretary of the PCE by Francisco Frutos on 7 December 1998. In the 6th Assembly of IU, on 29 October 2000, he was replaced as General Coordinator by
Gaspar Llamazares.
Later years After his political career, Anguita returned to his job as a history teacher and renounced written the life pay as a former deputy. On 1 June 2005, at the XVII Congress of the PCE, he presented a document calling for the re-founding of the party, reflecting on the International Communist Movement. He pointed out the negative impact brought by the fall of the Soviet Union and the uncriticalness and submission of the unions and the Left to the established capitalist order. On 22 April 2008, he sent the Federal Committee of the PCE a document in which he defended the need for a 'refounding' of IU. In his letter, he attributed the electoral debacle to the "lack of a clear line", and the absence of a coherent program. He defended radical democracy, the fight for the Third Republic and federalism, both for the coalition's organizational model and for the defended state model. In his opinion, the debate should open at the next federal assembly of IU. In 2012, in the midst of the
Spanish economic crisis, he promoted and became the figurehead of the ("Civic Front 'We are Majority'"), a social movement vowing to gather and mobilise the social majority who were suffering the effects of the crisis and the imposed austerity. It was usual for him to be interviewed on political talk shows, especially on the show
La sexta noche. His last interview was on 8 May 2020, a day before being admitted to the hospital for the
Todo es mentira program, being interviewed by presenter
Risto Mejide and where he stated "let's reflect on how we are going to live so that everyone lives well" during pandemic in Spain.
Death On 16 May 2020, Anguita died after being hospitalized on 9 May at Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Córdoba, after suffering a heart attack at his home. His death shocked Spanish politics; Prime Minister
Pedro Sánchez deeply regretted his death, leader of the conservative
People's Party Pablo Casado remembered his passionate defense of his ideals, while president of Andalusia
Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla recognized the respect and recognition that he had for his "ability to reach necessary agreements despite the discrepancies". Second Deputy Prime Minister
Pablo Iglesias, who mourned the death of "our best political reference", as well as President of Cuba
Miguel Díaz-Canel called him an "historic leader". == Positions ==