Francisco Marhuenda

Francisco Marhuenda
In May 2013
Member of the Parliament of Catalonia
In office
5 December 1995 – 23 May 1996
Personal details
Born (1961-01-12) 12 January 1961
Barcelona
CitizenshipSpanish
PartyPeople's Party (1995–?)
OccupationJournalist, politician, political advisor, professor

Francisco "Paco" Marhuenda García (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈθisko maˈɾwenda]; born 1961) is a Spanish journalist, professor and former politician.

Member of the People's Party Parliamentary Group in the Parliament of Catalonia between 1995 and 1996, he later worked in the staff of Mariano Rajoy during the later's spell as minister. Since 2008, Marhuenda is the editor of La Razón, a conservative daily newspaper.

Biography

Marhuenda was born on 12 January 1961 in Barcelona.[1] He graduated in journalism and later obtained a PhD in law.[2]

He worked for the Barcelonian edition of the ABC daily newspaper.[3]

A former member of the national executive of the UCD Youth Wing,[4] Marhuenda joined the People's Party (PP) in 1995, and became a member of the Parliament of Catalonia after the 1995 Catalan regional election.[5] He resigned to his seat in 1996, to become chief of staff of the minister of public administrations, chief of staff of the minister of education and culture in 1999, and director general of relation with the Cortes in 2000, always under the aegis of Mariano Rajoy.[5]

Marhuenda, in company of Eugenio Nasarre, Ignacio Arsuaga, José Javier Esparza and Eduardo Verástegui during the reception of the 2009 HazteOir awards

Following the ousting of José María Aznar from the government, Marhuenda returned to journalism. In 2008, Marhuenda, until then working as delegate of La Razón in Barcelona, was chosen by Mauricio Casals to become the new editor of the newspaper in Madrid.[6] Soon after becoming editor Marhuenda described the leaning of the conservative and confessional newspaper as "unabashedly right-wing".[7]

A member of the Catholic Association of Propagandists, Marhuenda obtained a second PhD in 2015 reading a thesis dealing with press freedom in Spain at the CEU San Pablo University.[8]

In April 2017, Marhuenda and Casals were criminally indicted accused of participating in a extorsion scheme against the president of the Community of Madrid Cristina Cifuentes, which would have the purpose of hindering the investigations on the corruption case around the Canal de Isabel II water company.[9][2] Soon after charges against Marhuenda and Casals were dropped.[10]

Criticism

In 1997, he was accused of defending Javier de la Rosa in the pages of the ABC newspaper.[11]

Between 2002 and 2006, he was a member of the board of directors of Eurobank, a bank that went into administration in 2002 and was placed under special administration by the Bank of Spain,[12] whilst its former chairman, Eduardo Pascual Arxé, was arrested in March 2013 on charges of embezzlement and fraud, following an order issued by Judge Mercedes Alaya. Although he remains charged in this case on suspicion of corruption, he is awaiting trial, which is currently being conducted by Pablo Ruz, the judge presiding over Courtroom No. 5 of the National High Court.[13][14]

In May 2014, he was charged after La Razón published photos of the ID cards of twenty-two Catalan judges who had signed a manifesto calling for a referendum on Catalonia's independence.[15]

Works

  • — (1984). Ramón Viñals. Cuatro años por libre. Barcelona: Editorial Acervo.[3]

References

  1. ↑ M.M. (18 December 2011). "El director de La Razón gana el premio internacional de historia del Carlismo" [The director of La Razón wins the international Carlism history prize]. Diario de Navarra (in Spanish).
  2. 1 2 Valle, Ramón (21 April 2017). "Superagente Marhuenda: el único capaz de estar en varios sitios a la vez, y de paso en el juzgado" [Superagent Marhuenda: the only one capable of being in several places at once, and incidentally, in court]. El Español (in Spanish).
  3. 1 2 Culla i Clarà, Joan B. (27 April 2017). "Un Catón del periodismo" [A severe critic of journalism]. El País (in Spanish).
  4. ↑ "Francisco Marhuenda, nuevo director de 'La Razón'" [Francisco Marhuenda, new director of La Razón]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). EFE. 11 February 2008.
  5. 1 2 Ribera, Xavier (13 May 2014). "Paco Marhuenda, el bufón de la corte" [Paco Marhuenda, the court jester]. ElDiario.es (in Spanish).
  6. ↑ Lamelas, Marcos (30 June 2017). "Mauricio Casals, el Maquiavelo del Palace" [Mauricio Casals, the Machiavelli of the Palace]. El Confidencial (in Spanish).
  7. ↑ Nogales Bocio, Antonia Isabel; Mancinas-Chávez, Rosalba (2014). "Los diarios de referencia en el mercado de la prensa española. Propiedad, grupos mediáticos y conexiones estructurales" [The leading newspapers in the Spanish press market. Ownership, media groups, and structural connections]. Correspondencias & Análisis (in Spanish). 2014 (4): 317. ISSN 2224-235X.
  8. ↑ "Marhuenda, cum laude per una tesi sobre la llibertat de premsa" [Marhuenda, cum laude for a thesis on press freedom]. La República (in Catalan). 30 June 2015.
  9. ↑ Á.V. (19 April 2017). "El juez cita a Marhuenda por coacciones a Cifuentes para impedir la investigación del Canal de Isabel II" [The judge summons Marhuenda for coercing Cifuentes to prevent the investigation of the Canal de Isabel II]. El Periódico (in Spanish).
  10. ↑ Pérez, Fernando J. (25 April 2017). "El juez del caso Lezo desimputa a Casals y Marhuenda por las coacciones a Cifuentes" [The judge in the Lezo case drops charges against Casals and Marhuenda for coercing Cifuentes]. El País (in Spanish).
  11. ↑ "El jefe de gabinete de Rajoy defendió a De la Rosa en 'Abc'" [Rajoy's chief of staff defended De la Rosa in ABC]. El País (in Spanish). 2 July 1997. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  12. ↑ Martínez, Fèlix (5 June 2012). "La conexión de amigos del PP con el 'caso Eurobank'". ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  13. ↑ Martínez, Fèlix (25 March 2013). "La jueza Alaya desmantela de un plumazo la rama catalana de los ERE andaluces y deja en evidencia a Ruz" [Judge Alaya dismantles the Catalan branch of the Andalusian ERE scandal in one fell swoop and exposes Ruz]. ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  14. ↑ "El director de 'La Razón', en manos del juez Ruz" [The director of La Razón, in the hands of Judge Ruz]. El Triangle (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  15. ↑ "Francisco Marhuenda, imputado" [Francisco Marhuenda, accused]. La Gaceta (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 May 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
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