Politicians and businessmen say goodbye to Piqué in his funeral chapel and highlight his "brilliance" and "human quality"

“We would need many more people like him in Spain,” said the former Prime Minister, José María Aznar, in statements to the media upon his arrival at the funeral home, which was also attended by businessmen, relatives and friends of Piqué.

Aznar has praised the figure of the former minister for his “loyalty” and public service work, and, specifically, for his work at the head of the Ministries of Industry, Foreign Affairs and Science and Technology. “In all positions he performed with great brilliance and was a very intelligent and loyal man”, he extolled, visibly affected.

For his part, the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, expressed his condolences “on behalf of the people of Madrid” to the family of the former minister, whom he referred to as “a great statesman”, “with the better humanism”. “It is an irreparable loss without a doubt, he will always remain in our memory, since he is a faithful representative of the ability to have meeting points in a society like the Spanish one”, he declared.

In the same vein, the former Minister of the Presidency of Spain Javier Arenas has expressed himself, who has defined Piqué as “a great Spaniard, a great Catalan, a great economist, a great professor and a great politician” of whom, however, “What stood out the most was his human quality.”

Even the funeral chapel has also been approached by the former Minister of the Interior and promoter of Neos, Jaime Mayor Oreja, who has remembered Piqué as “a great companion, both personal and political.” “He had a great ability to get along with everyone from the economic sector to communication, so it is a great loss for everyone,” he said.

Likewise, the senator of the PP Alicia Sánchez Camacho, who presided over the PP of Catalonia from 2008 to 2017, after Piqué left that position, has vindicated the figure of the former minister as one of the “most important that Spain, the PP and Catalonia have had”. .

“He was my boss, my teacher, a great statesman and a benchmark for everyone in Catalonia”, he added, to celebrate the fact that he leaves behind a “Great legacy of constitutionality, stability, progress and concord”: “He believed in a Catalonia and a Spain of all”.

PSOE and Citizens

In addition to PP leaders, politicians from other parties have attended Piqué’s funeral chapel, such as the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Health of the socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Trinidad Jiménez, who has highlighted the ex-minister’s profile as a “public servant ”.

“He was a great minister and a person with whom you could talk and have a dialogue. It is necessary to emphasize the respect that he always maintained. He had a lot of personal affection for her, ”he said.

Likewise, the deputy for Ciudadanos in Congress Miguel Gutiérrez has lamented the death of Piqué, who, he recalled, denounced “what was the possible drift of the Catalan independence movement” when Ciudadanos was born. “For Cs he was a great reference”, he added, to underline that at this time, “of very low-level politics”, people like the former minister are needed.

Trajectory

Piqué (Vilanova i la Geltrú, Barcelona, ​​1955), who died this Thursday at the age of 68, was the leader of the PP in Catalonia and held the positions of Minister of Industry and Energy (1996 -2000), Minister Spokesperson for the Government (1998- 2000), Foreign Affairs (2000-2002) and Science and Technology (2002-2003) in the Aznar governments.

Since he left politics, Piqué has recovered his business facet and held, among other positions, president of the low-cost airline Vueling, CEO of OHL, and currently also part of the board of directors of the automobile manufacturer. Spanish Seat.

The Popular Party had recently included Piqué as a member of the new party foundation, called ‘Reformismo21’ and with which the formation intends to attract talent and experience with the aim of giving “added value to politics in general and to the PP in particular ”.