--- title: "Francisco Martín - IVU - International Vegetarian Union" description: "Francisco Martín: IVU Council Member, 1986-2000; 2002-04 IVU General Secretary, 1996-99 IVU Patron and Fellow of IVU Español Founder of Spain's first animal rights organisation, Alternativa para la Liberación Animal [ALA], Francisco has been vegan for more than three decades." url: "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/4303-members-council-francisco-martin.html" date: "2026-11-06T00:09:29+00:00" language: "en-GB" --- # Francisco Martín **![photo: Francisco Martin](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/news/1-96/martin.jpg)Francisco Martín** IVU Council Member, 1986-2000; 2002-04 IVU General Secretary, 1996-99 IVU Patron and Fellow of IVU [*Español*](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5858-spanish-members-council-francisco-martin.html)Founder of Spain's first animal rights organisation, Alternativa para la Liberación Animal \[ALA\], Francisco has been vegan for more than three decades. On his return to Spain after living and working in Canada for many years, he founded the Spanish Vegan Society, Associación Vegana Española (AVE) and introduced the word "vegano" into the Spanish language. Fluent in half a dozen languages, Francisco attended his first IVU congress in 1979, at Loughborough in the UK, and spoke at regional and world congresses for many years. A member of the IVU Council from 1986, he became General Secretary in 1996. From 1996 to 1999 he edited two magazines: IVU News \[in English\] and Veganismo \[in Spanish\]. His articles have been translated into several other languages. In 1993 Francisco singlehandedly organised the Seventh International Vegan Festival, held in Tossa de Mar - the first town in Spain to ban bullfighting. As IVU General Secretary, he also supported the 33rd IVU World Vegetarian Congress, held in Thailand in 1999. The following year he stood down from the International Council to concentrate on veganising the Spanish-speaking world and was made a Fellow of IVU in recognition of his services to the movement. A tireless campaigner against bullfighting and all other forms of cruelty and injustice, Francisco is a familiar figure on Spanish television as well as in the press and on radio. A supporter of the disadvantaged and abused since early childhood, when he kept a hen as a pet and was devastated when she "disappeared", his reply to a Canadian radio station who recently contacted him for comment on a fisheries dispute between the two countries was an uncompromising "I'm on the side of the fish". - [ **Animal Rights: A test of civilisation** ](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/3307-congress-2002-texts-francisco.html)(World Congress 2002) - **Español** -[Derechos de los Animales: una Prueba de Civilización](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/6620-spanish-congress-2002-texts-francisco.html) - **Français** - [Les droits de l’animal : la civilisation à l’épreuve](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/6441-french-congress-2002-francisco.html) - [**Presentation to Sir Paul McCartney, 1999**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/4895-people-music-macca.html) - [**Welcome Message**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/3701-congress-thai99-program-francisco.html) (World Vegetarian Congress, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 1999) - [**Vegetarian Consumer Power**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/3742-congress-thai99-texts-francisco.html) (WVC 99) - **Español** - [El Poder del Consumidor Vegetariano](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5830-spanish-congress-thai99-texts-francisco.html) - [**A call for solidarity with all living beings**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5532-news-3-98-secretary.html) (IVU News 3-98) - **Español** - [Una llamada de solidaridad hacia todos los seres vivos](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5901-spanish-news-3-98-secretary.html) - [**Impressions from the Land of the Rising Sun**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5524-news-3-98-japan2.html) (IVU News 3-98) - [**Thailand Revisited - another amazing experience**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5536-news-3-98-thailand.html) (IVU News 3-98) - [**The Risks from Vivisection**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5539-news-3-98-vivisection.html) (IVU News 3-98) - **Deutsch** - [Die Gefahren der Vivisektion](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/6475-german-news-3-98-vivisection.html) - [**A Day at the Farm Animal Rescue Sanctuary**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5520-news-3-98-far.html) (IVU News 3-98) - [**The Ethical Vegetarian Consumer**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5518-news-3-98-ethical.html) - a fresh look at bad old consumer habits (IVU News 3-98) - **Español** - [El consumidor vegetariano ético](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5887-spanish-news-3-98-ethical.html) - Un historial de injusticia y explotación - **Italiano** - [Il consumatore Vegetariano Etico](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/6012-italian-news-3-98-ethical.html) - [**Opening Speeches at the Congress**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/3605-congress-euro97-opening.html) (European Congress 1997) - [**Ethical Vegetarian Consumers**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/3590-congress-euro97-ethical.html) (European Congress 1997) - [**From the Secretary**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5463-news-2-97-secretary.html) (IVU News 2-97) - [**Vegetarianism - the ethical sensible choice**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5452-news-2-97-ethical.html) (IVU News 2-97) - **Español:** [El vegetarianismo: La elección ética sensata](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5872-spanish-news-2-97-ethical.html) - **Italiano:** [Essere vegetariani: Una scelta etica cosciente](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5872-spanish-news-2-97-ethical.html) - [**Hon.Gen.Sec - Hello & Goodbye**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5440-news-1-96-president.html) (IVU News 1-96) - [**A Thai Welcome**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5442-news-1-96-thailand.html) (IVU News 1-96) - [**A Report from India**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5433-news-1-96-india1.html) (IVU News 1-96) - [**Vegetarianism: The ethical, ecological imperative**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5430-news-1-96-ethical.html) (IVU News 1-96) - **Dansk** - Vegetarisme: Den etiske og økologiske nødvendighed - **Español** - [Vegetarianismo: Un imperativo ético y ecológico](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5862-spanish-news-1-96-ethical.html) - **Français** - [Végétarisme : un impératif éthique et écologique](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/6448-french-news-1-96-ethical.html) - **Italiano** - [Vegetarianismo: L'imperativo etico ed ecologico](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/6006-italian-news-1-96-ethical.html) - **Româna** - Vegetarianismul: imperativ etic si ecologic - [**From the Cybercafe**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/4234-congress-wvc96-ivu-council.html) - with the other councillors at the World Vegetarian Congress, Johnstown, USA,1996 - [**Diet and Identity**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/4231-congress-wvc96-identity.html) - talk given at WVC 96 - **Deutsch** - [Ernährung und Identität ](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/6472-german-congress-wvc96-identity.html) - **Español** - [Dieta e Identidad ](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/6643-spanish-congress-wvc96-identity.html) - [**Eating Our Way**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5547-news-95-96-eating.html) (IVU News, Feb/Mar 1996) - **Español** - [Comiendo a Nuestra Manera](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5913-spanish-news-95-96-eating.html) - **Français** - [Notre Manière de Manger](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/6174-french-news-95-96-eating.html) - **Italiano** - [Mangiare a modo nostro](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/6025-italian-news-95-96-eating.html) - [**A Dip in the Baltic (Lithuania)**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5543-news-95-96-baltic.html) (IVU News, October 1995) - **Español** - [Inmersión en el Báltico (Lituania)](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/5911-spanish-news-95-96-baltic.html) - [**Battling the Bullfight**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/3670-congress-thai99-profiles-francisco.html) (press article 1994) - **Asociación Vegana Española (AVE)** - Francisco is President A note on this archive. The history section of this website is drawn from a body of legacy content originally compiled by John Davis, former manager of the International Vegetarian Union. It represents his curation of historical material, and in places includes passages written by him directly. Over the years, the IVU website has migrated between several different hosting servers. In the course of these migrations, a number of PDF files were unfortunately lost, and **some links to PDF documents may no longer function**. Where this is the case, we have chosen to leave the original link text in place, as it may itself carry information of historical value. - Hits: 1945 ## Schema ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://ivu.org/history-of-ivu.html?view=article&id=4303:members-council-francisco-martin&catid=208","url":"https://ivu.org/history-of-ivu.html?view=article&id=4303:members-council-francisco-martin&catid=208","name":"Francisco Martín — IVU International Council","description":"IVU Council member (1986-2000, 2002-2004), General Secretary (1996-1999), Patron and Fellow of IVU; founder of Spain's first animal rights organisation, Alternativa para la Liberación Animal.","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":[{"@id":"https://ivu.org/history-of-ivu.html#archive"},{"@id":"https://ivu.org/history-of-ivu.html#international-council"}],"about":{"@id":"https://ivu.org/#/schema/person/francisco-martin"},"mainEntity":{"@id":"https://ivu.org/#/schema/person/francisco-martin"},"publisher":{"@id":"https://ivu.org/#organization"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://ivu.org/#/schema/person/francisco-martin","name":"Francisco Martín","description":"IVU Council member (1986-2000, 2002-2004), General Secretary (1996-1999), Patron and Fellow of IVU; founder of Spain's first animal rights organisation, Alternativa para la Liberación Animal.","url":"https://ivu.org/history-of-ivu.html?view=article&id=4303:members-council-francisco-martin&catid=208","memberOf":[{"@type":"OrganizationRole","roleName":"Member of the IVU International Council","memberOf":{"@id":"https://ivu.org/#organization"},"startDate":"1986","endDate":"2000","description":"Represented: Spain"},{"@type":"OrganizationRole","roleName":"Member of the IVU International Council","memberOf":{"@id":"https://ivu.org/#organization"},"startDate":"2002","endDate":"2004","description":"Represented: Spain"}]},{"@type":"Organization","name":"Alternativa para la Liberación Animal","founder":{"@id":"https://ivu.org/#/schema/person/francisco-martin"}}]} ``` ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://ivu.org" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "IVU", "item": "https://ivu.org/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Resources", "item": "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources.html" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Interviews", "item": "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews.html" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "History of the Vegetarian Societies", "item": "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews.html" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "name": "members", "item": "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews.html" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "name": "council", "item": "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews.html" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "name": "Francisco Martín", "item": "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/4303-members-council-francisco-martin.html" } ] } ``` ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/4303-members-council-francisco-martin.html" }, "headline": "Francisco Martín", "description": "Francisco Martín: IVU Council Member, 1986-2000; 2002-04 IVU General Secretary, 1996-99 IVU Patron and Fellow of IVU Español Founder of Spain's first animal rights organisation, Alternativa para la Liberación Animal [ALA], Francisco has been vegan for more than three decades.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "International Vegetarian Union", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://ivu.org/images/logos/logo-ivu-tranparent-background.png" } }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alex Fernandes", "url": "https://ivu.org/international-council.html" }, "datePublished": "2026-06-30T23:45:26+00:00", "dateCreated": "2026-06-25T00:17:23+00:00", "dateModified": "2026-10-08T00:54:35+00:00" } ```