Born in Barcelona in 1970 as the second child of two Andalusian immigrants originating from the Malaga province town of Alhaurín el Grande, Juan Manuel Moreno was only three months old when his family returned to its homeland, where he spent his childhood. Moreno acquired his bachelor's degree in Protocol and Institutional Relations at Camilo José Cela University.
Political career
Moreno started his career in the realm of politics when he ran, as a 24 year-old, in the Malaga municipal elections in the list of the Partido Popular, the main conservative party in Spain, being elected city councillor. He also held the position of President of the New Generations of the party and coordinated the party's regional politics alongside Javier Arenas, who, as Moreno would from 2014 onwards, held the presidency of the party's Andalusian branch between 1993 and 1999.
Councillor, Malaga City Council (1995-1997)
In 1995, at the age of 25, he was elected Councillor for Youth and Sport in the Malaga Town Hall, with Celia Villalobos as Mayor, as well as President of the Municipal Board of the district of Campanillas and Puerto de la Torre. A year later, he was already President of Nuevas Generaciones de Andalucía.
Regional deputy in the Parliament of Andalusia (1997-2000)
In 1997, at the age of 27, he was elected Member of Parliament for Malaga and spokesman for the Popular Parliamentary Group's Youth during the V Legislature of the Parliament of Andalusia. He was also elected president of New Generations at the national level and responsible for the party's Autonomous and Local Policy.
National Representative in Congress (2000-2011)
He was a national deputy in the Congress during the VII, VIII, IX and X legislatures, acting as deputy spokesman of the Popular Group in the Science and Technology Commission and as secretary in the Social Affairs Commission. He obtained a degree in Protocol and Organization of Events from the Camilo José Cela University, as well as several of his own degrees and a prize. In September 2006, he married Granada-based political scientist Manuela Villena In the 2018 regional elections, the People's Party list led by Moreno obtained a representation of 26 seats in the parliament, finishing second behind the Spanish Socialist Party, which had been the only party in the government of Andalusia since Spain became a democracy, obtaining 33 seats. Despite the PP scoring one of its worst historical results in the region, it was able to reach a government agreement with the liberal Ciudadanos, which had obtained 21 seats, and secured the support of Vox, the young far-right party that obtained 12 seats. This way, Moreno was elected president with the support of 59 of the 109 members in the Parliament of Andalusia. He thus became the first conservative president of Andalusia in Spain’s four-decade-long democracy.
