José María García Urbano graduated in Law in 1982. Three years later, in 1985 – aged 24 – he passed the competitive examinations to become a Legal Counsel of the Directorate-General of Registries and Notaries. He holds three professional titles: State Attorney, Land Registrar and Notary. He also holds a diploma in German.
Between 1985 and 1994 he held various posts at the Ministry of Justice, the last being Deputy Director-General for Nationality and Civil Status.
In 1995 the Ministry of Justice awarded him the Distinguished Cross First Class of the Order of Saint Raymond of Peñafort. During that period he took part in various international missions representing the Spanish State. He has also been a permanent member of the International Commission on Civil Status.
He has been an associate lecturer in Private Law at the UNED distance-learning university, in Civil Law at the University of Málaga (UMA) and in Commercial Law at Carlos III University.
He has worked as a Land Registrar in several parts of Spain and as a Notary in Estepona for 13 years.
He stood as a candidate for the first time in the municipal elections of 22 May 2011, becoming mayor for the Partido Popular on 11 June 2011 after winning an absolute majority of 17 councillors.
In 2015 he retained his absolute majority with 60% of the vote, becoming the most voted-for mayor in Spain among municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants.
In 2016 he headed the Partido Popular's Málaga list for the Congress of Deputies, serving in the Chamber's 11th Legislature.
On 26 May 2019 he was once again the most voted-for mayor in Spain among municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, increasing his already large absolute majority to 21 of the Corporation's 25 councillors, with almost 70% of the vote.
Today, in addition to being Mayor of Estepona, he is First Vice-President of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP).
