THE Spanish MEP, Mr Jose Maria Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado, a member of the Christian Democrat group, was yesterday elected president of the European Parliament. He will serve until the parliament ends its current term in June 1999.
Born in Madrid in 1935, he is the son of a politician who served as minister for defence during the second Spanish republic.
He spent his early years in Portugal, where his parents lived in exile during and after the Spanish civil war.
He returned to Spain in 1952 to study law, graduating with an honours degree, and later taught law at Madrid university. He was elected an MEP in 1989.