Former Spanish minister and Catalan conservatives leader, Josep Piqué, dies at 68

The former Spanish minister and leader of the Catalan People's Party, Josep Piqué, died aged 68 early on Thursday morning.

Born in Vilanova i la Geltrú, south of Barcelona, in 1955, he worked in the Spanish government from 1996 as the industry minister. Two years later, he was also named spokesperson for the executive under José María Aznar's leadership.

During the second Aznar mandate, Piqué became the foreign affairs minister between 2000 and 2002, just before the war in Iraq started.

In 2002 and 2003, he held the highest-ranking role in the Science and Technology department.

From October 2002 until 2007, he was also the leader of the Catalan People's Party, even though he had been a member of the Communist PSUC party when he was younger.

In 2003, he was the PP candidate in the Catalan parliament. At the time, the party obtained 15 seats, three more than in the previous elections. PP was the fourth force after the now-dissolved CiU, the Socialists, and the current governing party Esquerra Republicana.

In 2007, internal issues in the People's Party pushed Piqué to resign as, at the time, the leader of the party in Spain, Ángel Acebes, did not consider any of the members Piqué had proposed to take part in the Spanish Congress elections campaign committee.

After leaving politics, Piqué focused on managing large companies such as Vueling, Erkimia, Fesa-Enfersa, and Ercros. 

Since 2017, he was part of SEAT's managing board.