Arturo Aliaga, former vice-president of the Gobierno de Aragón and long-time leader of the Partido Aragonés (PAR), died on Wednesday, 2 September 2026, at the Hospital San Juan de Dios in Zaragoza aged 70 after a long illness. His party and several regional media outlets reported his death.
Aliaga was born in 1955 in Jaulín (Zaragoza province) born. The engineer joined the autonomous community’s public service in 1987 and rose to senior political administration in 1999, initially as Director-General for Industry. From 2002, he was Consejero for Industry, Trade and Tourism. He held this portfolio until 2011 in governments led by Marcelino Iglesias. After the change of government in 2011, Aliaga remained in office as Consejero for Industry and Innovation; once again, this was based on a coalition, this time under the president Luisa Fernanda Rudi. From 2019 to 2023, he was Vice-President of the Gobierno de Aragón and the responsible Consejero for Industry, Competitiveness and Business Development in the government of Javier Lambán.
As the PAR’s leading politician, Aliaga played a major role in shaping the regional party’s position as a coalition partner. He led the party from 2015 to 2023 and was regarded as a key point of contact for businesses in Aragón on economic policy matters. His final years in office were marked by internal disputes within the PAR and legal reviews of party conferences. Across party lines, however, Aliaga was recognised for his enduring commitment to regional politics and the continuity of his industrial policy.
Following news of his death, numerous politicians in Aragón issued statements. The president of the autonomous community, Jorge Azcón, publicly offered condolences and highlighted Aliaga’s efforts on behalf of the region’s interests. There were also messages of condolence and tributes to his work from the Partido Aragonés. The party gave no further details about his medical history.
Aliaga’s political career coincided with a period in which the Partido Aragonés often helped secure majorities. In this role, he supported industrial and economic policy compromises at crucial junctures. Observers see his work as a constant in Aragonese regional politics since the late 1990s. The personnel and political consequences of his death for the PAR remain unclear; initially, the party referred to the loss of its long-serving leader.
The information about the date and place of death and the main stages of his political career is based on statements by the Partido Aragonés and matching reports by regional media in Aragón dated 2 September 2026.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).