Aliaga was part of the four-party regional government as vice president and minister of Industry, Competitiveness and Business Development between 2019 and 2023. During that term, the Aragonese Party once again held the key to forming a government and could have backed the election of People's Party candidate Luis María Beamonte as president, with support from Ciudadanos and Vox. However, the Aragonese party chose Javier Lambán and joined forces with the PSOE, Podemos and CHA.
But that was not his only experience in the regional executive. Aliaga had already served as minister of Industry and Innovation under People's Party leader Luisa Fernanda Rudi between 2011 and 2015, and had previously headed the Industry, Trade and Tourism portfolio during the Socialist governments of Marcelino Iglesias, between 2002 and 2011.
In total, he spent 17 years overseeing the Aragonese government's industrial policies, where he demonstrated his training and experience as an industrial engineer. His relationship with the regional administration dated back to 1987, when he began holding various positions of responsibility, including that of technical secretary-general of the Department of Economy, Finance and Public Works. That was his last post before moving to the political frontline.
A LIFE LINKED TO THE PAR
Although he began his political career as an independent, he became closely associated with the Aragonese Party, whose presidency he assumed in 2015, replacing José Ángel Biel, and held until 2023. His final years at the head of the party, however, were marked by its electoral decline, splits and internal disputes.
The party membership reelected Aliaga as PAR president at the congress held in October 2021, although that process was ultimately annulled by the courts because of irregularities in the registration of 311 members. Barely a year later, in February 2023, a group of dissenting members of his executive presented a motion of no confidence to remove him from the presidency. The initiative was backed by 16 of the executive's 28 members.
But that internal battle was merely the final episode in a period of mounting wear and tear. After years of internal conflict within the party, including splits, and while dealing with various health problems as vice president, Aliaga decided not to stand in the May 2023 regional elections and to end his political career.
In an interview with SER, in which he announced his retirement after 16 years as a member of the Aragonese Parliament, Aliaga explained that from then on he wanted to devote his time to “listening to music, traveling with my wife, practicing sustainable agriculture, going to Jaulín, to Sariñena…”. It was a farewell to the political frontline after decades in which he was associated with the Government of Aragon, the PAR and, above all, the pursuit of agreement.
