Fernando Bergasa Perdomo

Fernando Bergasa was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on November 14, 1938. He pursued higher education in Madrid, where he trained as a civil engineer specializing in roads, canals, and ports from 1959 to 1965. He later obtained the title of Traffic Engineer at the Ministry of Public Works in 1966 and completed a diploma in Programming and Control Techniques at the IEC in Barcelona in 1972. His early professional career developed in engineering and public administration, where he held technical and management roles before entering institutional politics.

In 1976, Bergasa was involved in the founding of Unión Canaria and later joined the National Political Council of the Unión de Centro Democrático. In 1977, he was appointed Director General of Regions, a position he held until 1978. In 1977, he was elected as a deputy for Las Palmas in the constituent legislature, participating in parliamentary work that led to the approval of the Spanish Constitution. He continued as a deputy in the first democratic legislature, representing the same constituency until 1982. During this period, Spain's political transition included the creation of pre-autonomous institutions in several regions, including the Canary Islands.

On March 17, 1978, the pre-autonomous regime for the Canary Islands was approved by Royal Decree-Law 9/1978. The Junta de Canarias, constituted on April 14, 1978, was the body responsible for managing the archipelago's specific interests, organizing transferred services, and proposing measures to the national government. The Junta was composed of a Plenary and a Permanent Council, with its president elected by the Plenary. Fernando Bergasa was elected president of the Junta de Canarias in two periods: 1979–1980 and 1981–1982. His second election was reflected in the composition of the Junta's organs approved on June 12, 1981, where he presided over both the Plenary and the Permanent Council, with Ucelay as vice president. The Junta was not yet the government of an autonomous community but a transitional institution with limited powers over internal management, organization of transferred services, and representation before the State.

The autonomy process culminated with the approval of the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands by Organic Law 10/1982, which came into force on August 16, 1982. The Statute provided that choosing the autonomous organs would lead to the dissolution of the pre-autonomous institutions. Subsequently, Jerónimo Saavedra was elected president of the Government of the Canary Islands on December 29, 1982, and appointed on January 12, 1983. Fernando Bergasa received the Gold Medal of the Parliament of the Canary Islands in 2010. He died in 2024, the year in which the Chamber expressed its condolences.