José María Alfredo Aznar López (Spanish pronunciation: ( listen); born 25 February 1953) served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He is currently on the board of directors of News Corporation.
Aznar, born in Madrid in 1953, is the son of Manuel Aznar Acedo, army official, journalist and radio broadcaster, and grandson of Manuel Aznar Zubigaray, a prominent journalist during the Franco era. Both father and grandfather held governmental positions during the years of Spain under Franco. He studied law at the Complutense University of Madrid, graduating in 1975, becoming a Spanish Tax Authority inspector in 1976.
As a teenager, Aznar was a member of the Frente de Estudiantes Sindicalistas (FES), a Student Union supporting the Falange, Franco's one-party fascist organization. After 1977 it would become Falange Española Independiente (FEI).
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