Alexis Marí, from Civil Guard to friend of the separatists

ValenciaFrom Civil Guard to friend of the separatists. From UPyD and Ciutadans to offering himself to the PSOE in 2023 to liaise with Carles Puigdemont to build the plurinational majority that Pedro Sánchez invested. The political career of Alexis Marí (Valencia, 1972), who has been in the news this week for appearing in the messages between the former socialist organization secretary José Luis Ábalos and the Spanish president, has been very unusual.

Son of a French engineer originally from the Algerian protectorate, but with roots in the Valencian Community, and a woman from Elche, after finishing his military service he joined the Meritorious. After visiting several barracks, he was assigned to the information department. "At that time, we compiled reports on pro-independence and nationalist groups. We knew who had attended an event or a sit-in." aberzale", he explained in an interview in the magazine The Weather.

Retired from the Civil Guard due to illness, he worked and specialized in private security. He studied criminology and chaired the European Association of Integrated Security Directors. His leap into politics came with Unió Progrés y Democracia, a party of which he became regional coordinator. The crisis in UPyD led him to join Ciutadans, and he became a deputy in 2015. There, he met Carolina Punset, who would become his wife two years later.

When the daughter of science popularizer Eduard Punset swapped the Valencian Parliament for Strasbourg, she met Ramon Tremosa in the cafeteria of the European Parliament. This was the seed of a later meeting with Puigdemont and a visit to Oriol Junqueras, Josep Rull, Jordi Turull, and Joaquim Forn in Lledoners prison. By then, he'd already left Ciudadanos (Cs), declared himself an enemy of Toni Cantó, and renounced the most intransigent Spanish nationalism. It's the same path his wife took, appointed advisor to the socialist Ximo Puig.

A regular commentator on X and more sporadically in the media, he also has time to follow his teams: Barça and Levante. The former has won La Liga, the latter could return to the First Division and appear in the press. Marino must be happy.