14 Facts About Albert Rivera

Albert Rivera was a member of the Parliament of Catalonia and the Congress of Deputies.

Albert Rivera Diaz is the only child of Agustin Rivera, member of a working-class family from La Barceloneta, and Maria Jesus Diaz, who had moved aged 13 from the small town of Cutar in Malaga province to follow in the footsteps of her elder brother, who had opened an electrical appliances shop.

Albert Rivera won the Catalan swimming championships at the age of 16 and played for the Granollers water polo team.

Albert Rivera went on to study law at ESADE, part of the Ramon Llull University, completing the degree in 2001.

Albert Rivera completed a master's degree in constitutional law from the same institution in 2002.

Albert Rivera studied for one year at the University of Helsinki in Finland, as part of an Erasmus scholarship.

Albert Rivera has taken a course at the George Washington University in political marketing.

Once he completed his university studies, Rivera began working as a legal counsel at the La Caixa savings bank in 2003.

Albert Rivera stopped working for La Caixa in 2006 when he became the president of Citizens.

Albert Rivera was elected as the president of Citizens during their founding conference in July 2006.

Albert Rivera was re-elected as president again in 2007 and 2011.

Albert Rivera was first elected to the Parliament of Catalonia in the 2006 regional election, and remained a member until he stepped down before the 2015 parliamentary election.

In October 2019, Albert Rivera declared he wanted to become prime minister to jail those who dare to try to break up Spain.

Albert Rivera and the singer Malu have a daughter, born in June 2020.