Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo
Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo (Spanish: [ˈxwam maˈnwel ˈsantʃeθ ɣoɾˈðiʎo]; born 5 February 1952) is a Spanish politician, labour leader and history school teacher. He was the Mayor of Marinaleda from 1979 to 2023, and MP for United Left (IU) in the Parliament of Andalusia for 12 years. Until 2023, he was the leader of the party Unitarian Candidacy of Workers (CUT), part of UF and the rural workers's union Andalusian Workers' Union.
Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Marinaleda | |
| In office 6 May 1979 – 17 June 2023 | |
| Deputy of the Parliament of Andalusia for Seville | |
| In office 8 July 1994 – 12 March 2000 | |
| In office 13 April 2008 – 26 November 2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 February 1952 Marinaleda, Seville, Spain |
| Political party | Unitarian Candidacy of Workers |
| Children | Misrain and Libertad |
| Profession | High school history teacher |
Sánchez Gordillo has a long history of participating in militant action for the benefit of Spanish working class. He helped to transform Marinaleda from a town blighted by rural poverty into what Sánchez Gordillo himself and The Guardian have described as a "communist utopia", where since the early 1990s there has been no need for mortgages—the town has "virtually full employment, communally owned land and wage equality". In August 2012 the town had only 5% unemployment, mostly recent arrivals and economic migrants, contrasting with the rest of Spain where unemployment is at 25%, and at 34% in Andalusia.