Alfonso Soriano Benítez de Lugo

Alfonso Soriano was born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna on October 2, 1936. He earned a law degree and worked as a lawyer and civil servant. Over the course of his professional career, he served as Technical Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism (MOPU) and chaired the Board of the Teide National Park. He was also the founder and president of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) in Tenerife and of the Tenerife Liberal Opinion Club. His political activity spanned both island and national spheres.

Soriano was elected as a deputy in the constituent legislature, participating in the parliamentary process that laid the foundations for Spain's democratic system after the dictatorship. He later served as a senator in the first legislature. From April 14, 1978, to June 9, 1979, he presided over the Junta de Canarias, an institution created following the approval of Royal Decree-Law 9/1978, which established the pre-autonomous regime for the Canary Islands. The Junta de Canarias, composed of a Plenary and a Permanent Council, had powers over internal organization, management of transferred services, administration of specific interests, and the proposal of measures to the state government. The president of the Junta was elected by the institution's Plenary. During this period, the Junta was not yet the government of an autonomous community but rather a provisional body tasked with managing the transition to autonomy.

After his time in the Junta, Soriano continued his parliamentary career. He was elected deputy in the IV, V, VI, and VII legislatures of the Congress of Deputies. In the VI legislature, he served as first vice president of the Public Administration Committee from May 16, 1996, to January 18, 2000, and was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. His parliamentary work took place in a context of institutional consolidation and the development of autonomous powers.

The Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands, approved by Organic Law 10/1982 of August 10 and in force since August 16, 1982, established new autonomous institutions such as the Parliament and Government of the Canary Islands, with a president elected by Parliament and appointed by the King. The Statute’s transitional provisions called for the dissolution of the pre-autonomous institutions once the autonomous community’s organs had been chosen. In 2010, Alfonso Soriano received the Gold Medal of the Parliament of the Canary Islands along with the other former presidents of the Junta, in recognition of their institutional role during the pre-autonomous period.