It marked an era, without a doubt. He took control of the Civil Guard in a very turbulent period, when the echoes of the dirty war still shook an important part of the Institution. The Government left González and the one from Aznar.
And there came a man from Valladolid, Santiago Lopez Valdivielso, died this Tuesday at the age of 73 in Madrid after a long illness. A politician of race, trusted by the new President of the Government. He was in the Congress, fighting battles in Defense matters as spokesperson for the Popular Party. A man of principles, a democrat, a man of state, without hesitation. A man who completely broke the mold in the Institution and who leaves an indelible memory.
He formed a solid leadership in the Civil Guard that allowed him little by little (and with many budgetary difficulties) to show his face for the guards, for their working conditions, for their facilities, for their families… The memory of López Valdivielso remains as one of the best managers the Institution has ever had, and this is how they remember him between the walls of the barracks. In fact, he was the one who remained in office the longest in democracy.
This Valladolid native, who loved speed and racing, also broke many taboos even within his own party, where he generated more than one internal conflict to maintain his principles. He was very surprised when it became known that he was a member of Amnesty International. But, above all, he destroyed a lot of ideology when he approved that for the first time in the history of the Civil Guard there was a permissible situation for same-sex couples.
Valdivielso, who had to face the extreme harshness of ETA during the first years of the Government of José María Aznar, maintained firmness and law to face what was, of course, his absolute priority.
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