José Antonio Monago Terraza
José Antonio Monago Terraza is a Spanish politician who belongs to the People's Party (PP) who served as President of the Regional Government of Extremadura, the Extremaduran regional administration, from 2011 to 2015. Outside of political life, Monago received a Doctorate in Law from the University of Salamanca He became Extremaduran regional leader of the PP in 2007 and served as a city councillor in Badajoz and as a PP deputy in the Extremaduran Assembly. The Extremaduran Assembly appointed him to the Spanish Senate in 2008. Monago was chosen as the PP candidate for President  of the Regional Government of Extremadura in the 2011 Extremaduran elections. The elections saw the PP emerge as the largest party in Extremadura for the first time, although they fell one seat short of an absolute majority. The outgoing President, Guillermo Fernández Vara of the PSOE, attempted to secure re-election by forming a pact with United Left (IU). However IU declined to support the PSOE and abstained in the Presidential vote with the result that Monago became the first PP President of the Regional Government of Extremadura. Nine months later, Monago's minority government is threatened to collapse after  the IU agreed to re-negotiate with PSOE after parliamentary elections in Andalusia and Asturias on 25 March 2012. He joined the Fire Department in 1987, of which he is currently Head of Section. Among other services, he was part of the rescue teams that acted in the fire at the Arias Warehouse in Madrid, where they lost their lives ten firefighters, and founded the NGO SOS Extremadura, which acted in the earthquakes in Algeria and Morocco. At the same time, he completed the EGB Teacher Training studies in the Human Sciences specialty at the University of Extremadura. Subsequently, he  studied University Expert in Criminology dependent on the University of Cádiz, studied Law in Cáceres, did two years of Legal Practice at the Badajoz Bar Association (where he registered), and did doctorate courses in Law at the University of Salamanca. He taught at the Public Security Academy of the Junta de Extremadura, in courses related to public security. He has been a teacher at the Deusto Business School in its Madrid headquarters, of the Public Leadership Program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He was Ensign R.V. of the Marine Infantry, bound for the Tercio Sur and Tercio de Armada, in San  Fernando (Cádiz). He has expressed his taste for the musical group Camela, active since 1994, as he expressed at a political rally for the last national elections in Mérida (Badajoz). His time in politics began in the Popular Democratic Party of Óscar Alzaga in Badajoz, from where he passed, when this party was merged with the Popular Party, to the New Generations. At that time, he was a co-founder of the Local Youth Council of Badajoz, being its first vice president. In the municipal elections of 1991 he was elected councilor in the Badajoz City Council by the Popular  Party. He was First Deputy Mayor with the Mayor of Badajoz Miguel Ángel Celdrán Matute, whom he has always referred to as a political teacher and patrimony of Extremadura. He intervened in the unfortunate floods of Badajoz in 1997, carrying out reconnaissance and aerial rescue work with the Air Rescue Service of the Air Force. Together with a group of divers he located one of the people who disappeared in this tragic catastrophe. He has also been a regional deputy and senator.1 Between 2000 and 2004 he was Secretary General of the PP of Extremadura, from 2004 to 2008 he  was president of the PP of Badajoz, and since November 9, 2008 President of the PP of Extremadura as well as his candidate for the Extremadura Assembly in autonomous elections of 2011. Despite the fact that the PP was the most voted list in the Extremadura Junta, it did not reach an absolute majority, which is why it obtained the presidency thanks to the abstention of the three deputies of the United Left, thus becoming the first and only president of Extremadura of the Popular Party, after 28 years of the PSOE government. He is currently President of the Senate  Budget Committee. He coordinates the Committee of Autonomous Presidents of the Popular Party. He took office on July, 2011 as President of the Junta de Extremadura. For three years, he was Head of the Spanish Delegation in the Committee of the Regions based in Brussels, by agreement of the Autonomous Communities of Spain. He promoted a Smart Specialization Strategy in the region, called "One", aimed at the innovation and transformation of the Extremadura economy, its intelligent specialization, as a structural element and sustained over time. During his tenure, he bet on strengthening ties with Israel, 18 as an inspiring element  in entrepreneurship . It created a General Directorate of Foreign Action and Investments, as well as the Delegation of the Junta de Extremadura in Europe, decisive to attract capital to the region, and seek markets for Extremadura products, through the "Invest in Extremadura" initiative. He pushed for two tax cuts and reduced the inheritance and gift tax. He promoted the creation of a working group in relation to Axis 16, the Trans-European Rail Transport Network, participating together with the Presidents of Aragon, Madrid and Castilla la Mancha. In 2014, Parliament approved the Basic Income Bill, with the votes in favor  of the Popular Party and United Left, and against the PSOE and Prex-Crex. He decidedly opted for the International Classical Theater Festival of Mérida, once again being a national and international benchmark, despite the serious economic problems that it had been dragging on. He entrusted the task to Jesús Cimarro as Director, who continues to develop it even today, despite the change of government. During his government, an agreement was signed with the gallery owner Helga de Alvear, a decisive factor in establishing her important collection in Extremadura, and promoting the expansion of the Helga de Alvear Museum. In  November 2014, it was leaked that Monago could have used public money of the Senate in 2009 and 2010 to make 32 visits to his then girlfriend in the Canary Islands He promised to give the money back, but he later took that promise back. This issue reached the Supreme Court, which closed the matter because the journalistic information was not credited. "The complaint was inadmissible for not being the facts constituting any criminal offense". Currently, José Antonio Monago is Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.