Agustin Rodriguez Sahagun
Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún (Ávila, April 27, 1932 - Paris, October 13, 1991) was a Spanish politician and businessman. A member of the Union of the Democratic Center and later of the Democratic and Social Center, he held important positions in the government of Adolfo Suárez as Minister of Industry (1978 to 1979) and later in the Ministry of Defense (1979 to 1981). He was also mayor of Madrid between 1989 and 1991 thanks to a motion of censure.
Biography
Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún was born in Ávila on April 27, 1932. His father was a prominent lawyer, leader of the Republican Left and a friend of Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz. When the civil war broke out, his family had to flee to Bilbao when he was 7 years old. After completing basic studies in the Piarists, he graduated in Economics from the University of Deusto, being number one in his class. In 1954 he graduated in Law from the University of Valladolid, later he obtained a scholarship for the Institute of Economic Studies of Turin (Italy), and completed his training with a stay in Sheffield (United Kingdom) to obtain a specialty in organization and business management.
He began working assuming positions of responsibility in Biscayan companies in the steel, naval and industrial sectors. In 1959 he was one of the founders of Ediciones Deusto, specialized in material for the training of executives. And in the 1960s he was hired by Banco de Bilbao as promotion secretary. His increasing responsibilities made him move to Madrid in 1965, where he established his residence. There he began to be interested in politics, participating in projects for the restoration of democracy in Spain.
In 1976 he promoted the creation of the Segovian Business Federation. A year later, in 1977, he participated in the founding of the employers' association CEPYME (Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises), of which he was president for a year. He was also a promoter of the Spanish Business Confederation, later integrated into the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE).
His political career was linked to the Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD), which he joined in 1977. The president of the government, Adolfo Suárez, offered him to join the National Institute of Industry. On February 24, 1978, he was appointed Minister of Industry and Energy, replacing Alberto Oliart. In the general elections of 1979 he obtained a seat in the Cortes Generales for the Vizcaya constituency, and on April 5, 1979 he assumed the portfolio of the Ministry of Defense. Under his mandate, the failed coup d'état of February 23, 1981 took place.
Sahagún left the government during the presidency of Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo and was the leader of the UCD from February to November 1981, when he left office to accompany Adolfo Suárez in the creation of the Democratic and Social Center (CDS). Although the CDS only got two deputies in the 1982 elections, Sahagún won one of them as head of the list for the Ávila constituency. He managed to revalidate it in 1986 and for a year he was parliamentary spokesman.
Mayor of Madrid
Rodríguez Sahagún was head of the CDS list in the 1987 municipal elections in Madrid. His candidacy was the third most voted, behind the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and Alianza Popular (AP). In the mayor's investiture vote on June 30, 1987, he received 8 votes, 24 from Juan Barranco (PSOE) and 20 from José María Álvarez del Manzano (AP). Thus, for two years, the councilor was the socialist Juan Ravine. After a failed motion of censure against Barranco in 1988, Alianza Popular and CDS carried out, after tough negotiations, a new motion of censure. In this context, there had previously been movements in municipal groups, such as joining the centrist group of Ramón Tamames (from Izquierda Unida) or the march of CDS councilors Javier Soto and Manuel Martínez Parrondo to the socialist ranks. As a result of the agreement for the motion of censure, Sahagún was finally sworn in as mayor of the Spanish capital on 29 February. June 1989.
The first measure of his mandate was to increase the number of municipal police officers, both in mobility tasks and in citizen security, and the creation of an officially protected housing plan. Another important decision was to impose on construction companies a "three shifts" system in public works that reduced construction times. To improve traffic, he promoted the creation of four large underground passages, the most important being that of Plaza de Castilla. He tried unsuccessfully to prevent Fomento from expanding the Barajas Airport and directing its efforts towards a second aerodrome. And finally, he approved the construction of the Juan Carlos I Park, with 160 hectares of extension in the northeast of the city, which was inaugurated in 1992.
Sahagún also became personally involved in the development of the European Capital of Culture program in 1992.
During his tenure, Sahagún was criticized for being mayor with only 8 councilors, thanks to the support of Alianza Popular to expel the Socialists. Despite everything, when Sahagún announced in April 1991 that he would not run for re-election for personal reasons, his work was valued in matters such as the fight against drugs and the rigor in the deadlines for compliance with public works. He was replaced in office by José María Álvarez del Manzano, from the Popular Party, who, after the municipal elections of May 1991, he took office as mayor in the constitutive session of the new municipal corporation held on July 5, 1991.
Death
After spending a few months withdrawn from public life, Sahagún traveled to Paris to undergo cardiovascular surgery at the Broussais Hospital on September 25. Two weeks later he died in the French capital, on October 13, 1991, by not being able to overcome the postoperative phase, specifically "important thromboembolic complications, accompanied by renal failure". He was 59 years old.
In his last days he was accompanied by his closest family. He had been married since 1957 to Rosa María Martínez Guisasola, with whom he had six children.
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Although Sahagún had been known to have had coronary problems for several months, the news of his death was unexpected and shocked the Spanish political class. The President of the Government, Felipe González, expressed his condolences on behalf of the executive and on a personal level. On the other hand, former President Adolfo Suárez, his party partner in UCD and CDS, lamented "the loss of the best friend and colleague I have ever had". The mayor of Madrid, José María Álvarez del Manzano, and the president of the Community of Madrid, Joaquín Leguina, also expressed their condolences.
In his honor, a public funeral was arranged on October 21, 1991, with more than 2,000 people in attendance. The Madrid City Council awarded him the Villa's Medal of Honor posthumously.
On January 18, 1995, a monument by the sculptor Eduardo Chillida was inaugurated in the district of Tetuán to honor the memory of Sahagún, in the park that also bears his name.
Awards
- Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit, with white distinction (1981)
- Grand Cross of the Real and Very Distinguished Order of Charles III (1981)
- Medal of Honor of Madrid (1991; posthumous recognition)
- Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit, with white distinction (1991; posthumous recognition)
- Constitutional Merit Order (1991; Posthumous Recognition)