Manuel Valls facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Manuel Valls
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Valls in 2015
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| Minister of State Minister of the Overseas |
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| Assumed office 23 December 2024 |
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| Prime Minister | François Bayrou |
| Preceded by | François-Noël Buffet |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 31 March 2014 – 6 December 2016 |
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| President | François Hollande |
| Preceded by | Jean-Marc Ayrault |
| Succeeded by | Bernard Cazeneuve |
| Minister of the Interior | |
| In office 16 May 2012 – 1 April 2014 |
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| Prime Minister | Jean-Marc Ayrault |
| Preceded by | Claude Guéant |
| Succeeded by | Bernard Cazeneuve |
| Mayor of Évry | |
| In office 18 March 2001 – 24 May 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Christian Olivier |
| Succeeded by | Francis Chouat |
| Member of the National Assembly for Essonne's 1st constituency | |
| In office 19 June 2002 – 3 October 2018 |
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| Preceded by | Jacques Guyard |
| Succeeded by | Francis Chouat |
| Member of the Barcelona City Council | |
| In office 15 June 2019 – 31 August 2021 |
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| Member of the Regional Council of Île-de-France | |
| In office 21 March 1986 – 20 June 2002 |
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| Constituency | Essonne |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti
13 August 1962 Barcelona, Spain |
| Citizenship |
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| Political party |  FranceLREM/RE (2021–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
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| Spouses |
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| Children | 4 |
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| Relatives |
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| Alma mater | Pantheon-Sorbonne University |
Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born on August 13, 1962) is a French and Spanish politician. He is currently the Minister of the Overseas in the French government since 2024. Before this, he was the Prime Minister of France from 2014 to 2016 under President François Hollande. He also took part in Spanish politics from 2018 to 2021.
Manuel Valls was born in Barcelona, Spain. His father was Spanish, and his mother was Swiss. He grew up in France and later became a French citizen.
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Early Life and Family
Manuel Valls's father, Xavier Valls, was a painter from Barcelona. In the late 1940s, Xavier Valls moved to Paris. There, he met Luisangela Galfetti, who was Manuel's mother. She was from Ticino, Switzerland, and was the sister of a famous architect named Aurelio Galfetti.
Manuel Valls was born in Barcelona while his parents were on holiday. He spent his childhood in France and later became a French citizen.
Political Career
Starting in the Socialist Party (1980–2014)
Manuel Valls joined the French Socialist Party (PS) in 1980 when he was 17 years old. He supported a politician named Michel Rocard. While studying history at Pantheon-Sorbonne University, he was part of a student union.
He held many different roles in local and regional government. From 1986 to 1992, he was a member of the regional council for Île-de-France. He also served as the mayor of Évry from 2001 to 2012. In 2002, he was elected to the National Assembly of France for Essonne.
In 2011, Manuel Valls ran to become the Socialist Party's candidate for president. He did not win, but he supported François Hollande, who later became president.
Minister of the Interior (2012–2014)
In May 2012, Manuel Valls was appointed Minister of the Interior. This job involves keeping the country safe and managing police forces.
Prime Minister of France (2014–2016)
In March 2014, President François Hollande chose Manuel Valls to be the Prime Minister of France. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. He led the Valls Cabinet, which included ministers from the Socialist Party and the Radical Party of the Left.
After a serious event in Nice in 2016, he said that France would have to learn to live with such challenges.
After Being Prime Minister (2016–present)
2017 Presidential Election
Manuel Valls left his role as Prime Minister in December 2016. He wanted to become the Socialist Party's candidate for the 2017 French presidential election. He came in second in the first round of the primary election. In the second round, he lost to Benoît Hamon.
Even though he had promised to support the Socialist candidate, Valls later announced he would support Emmanuel Macron. Macron eventually won the presidential election. After Macron's victory, Valls said he wanted to run for re-election to the National Assembly. He won his re-election as an independent candidate.
Working in Spanish Politics
In 2018, Manuel Valls decided to run for mayor of Barcelona in Spain. He announced his candidacy in September 2018 and left his political roles in France. He started his own political party called Barcelona pel Canvi (BCN Canvi).
Valls was against the idea of Catalonia becoming independent from Spain. His party worked with another party called Citizens. They won 6 out of 41 seats in the city council election. Valls became a city councillor in Barcelona.
In August 2021, Valls announced that he would leave the City Council of Barcelona and return to French politics.
Returning to French Politics
After Emmanuel Macron was re-elected as president in 2022, Manuel Valls tried to return to the French National Assembly. He ran as a candidate for La République en marche, but he did not win.
In December 2024, Valls was appointed as the Minister of the Overseas in the French government. He is also a Minister of State. Soon after, he visited Mayotte with the Prime Minister to see the damage from a cyclone and discuss ways to help.
Political Beliefs
Manuel Valls is seen as being on the right side of the Socialist Party. He believes in an "economically realistic" way of speaking about politics. He describes himself as someone who wants to make changes rather than start a revolution. He wants to help people achieve their own goals and believes in individual responsibility.
Views on Religion
Manuel Valls has strong views on secularism, which means keeping government and public life separate from religion. He has supported rules against wearing certain religious coverings in public. He also supports freedom of speech for artists and others.
Terrorism
After the 2015 Paris attacks, Valls said that French society needed to work together against harmful ideas. After the 2016 Nice attack, he stated that France would have to live with the threat of terrorism and that people should remain calm and united.
Honours
Manuel Valls has received several awards and honours from France and other countries for his public service.
National Honours
Grand Cross in the National Order of Merit (2016)
Grand Officer of the Order of the Legion of Honour (2016)
Foreign Honours
Commander of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite (Morocco, 2011)
Commander of the National Order of the Ivory Coast (Ivory Coast, 2013)
Knight of the National Order of the Lion (Senegal, 2013)
Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (Spain, 2013)
Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (UK, 2014)
Commander of the National Order of Mali (Mali, 2015)
Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain, 2015)
Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Senegal, 2016)
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Political Offices
Manuel Valls has held many important political jobs throughout his career.
Governmental Functions
- Prime Minister: 2014 to 2016
- Minister of Interior: 2012 to 2014
Elected Offices
- City councillor of Barcelona: 2019 to 2021
- Member of the National Assembly of France for Essonne (1st constituency): 2002–2018
- Vice-president of the Regional Council of Île-de-France: 1998–2002
- Regional councillor of Île-de-France: 1986–2002
- Mayor of Évry: 2001–2012
- Municipal councillor of Évry: 2001–2018
- Deputy-mayor of Argenteuil: 1989–1998
Personal Life
In 1987, Manuel Valls married Nathalie Soulié. They had four children together before they divorced. In 2010, he married Anne Gravoin, who is a talented violinist. In 2019, he married Susana Gallardo.
Because of his family background, Manuel Valls can speak French, Spanish, Catalan, and Italian very well.
Images for kids
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Manuel Valls with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at a conference in 2016.
See also
In Spanish: Manuel Valls Galfetti para niños
