Women ministers dominate Spain’s new socialist government
A female-dominated cabinet is taking shape as part of Spain’s new Socialist government, including a former astronaut as science minister and a European Union bureaucrat to oversee the country’s economy.
Nadia Calvino, who has been director general for budget at the EU’S Commission since 2014, was confirmed as the minister in charge of the eurozone’s fourth largest economy.
And Pedro Duque, an engineer and the first Spaniard in space, welcomed in a series of tweets yesterday his appointment as minister of science, innovation and universities.
Mr Duque is a member of the European Space Agency and has taken part in several missions, including a ten-day flight on board a Discovery shuttle in 1998, and another ten-day visit to the International Space Station on a Russian-designed spacecraft.
Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s new prime minister, was expected to convey the appointments to King Felipe VI yesterday before the new ministers can take their positions today.
Mr Sanchez on Friday won a no confidence vote in the government of Mariano Rajoy, prime minister since 2011, following a corruption scandal involving several former members of the conservative Popular Party.
The number two in the new government will be Carmen Calvo, several members of the ruling party have said, confirming rumours in Spanish media.
Ms Calvo, an expert on constitutional law and minister of culture between 2004 and 2007, will be deputy prime minister and also in charge of a resurrected Ministry of Equality.
Pending the announcements of the defence and interior ministers, the count shows ten female ministers in the cabinet, with four men, including Mr Sanchez himself.
The push for Catalan independence, which haunted Mr Rajoy during the last eight months of the outgoing government, will be one of the key challenges of the new administration.
Meritxell Batet, a Catalan lawmaker and legal expert on the country’s constitution, will be charged with dealing with Catalonia’s desire for further autonomy as the new minister of public administration.
The previously announced appointment of Josep Borrell, the former European Parliament president and pro-spanish unity Catalan politician, as foreign minister, irked some separatists.
Mr Sanchez has promised to open talks with a new regional cabinet in the prosperous northeastern region, but has said that any solution must fit within Spain’s Constitution, which describes the nation as “indivisible” and says that national sovereignty resides in the based parliament based in Madrid.