Mariano Rajoy's Cabinet

Mariano Rajoy's Cabinet
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By m.p. - Dec 27, 2011 - 7:22 PM
Who are the people that Mariano Rajoy has chosen to make up his cabinet?

Mariano Rajoy and his cabinet - EFE

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Presidency and Government Spokesperson: Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, and the youngest member of the new Cabinet. She was born in Valladolid on June 10, 1971 and is married with one child. She is a law graduate with a Masters in Telecommunications Law and has held a number of positions with the State Legal Service during her professional career. She taught Administrative Law at the Carlos III University in Madrid, and was an advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office during the previous Partido Popular government led by José María Aznar. She was executive secretary for the PP’s regional and local policy between 2004 and 2008 and coordinated the party’s electoral campaign for the 2007 regional and municipal elections. She was spokeswoman for the PP grouping in Congress during the IX Legislature.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation: The MEP José Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil was born on August 13, 1944 in Madrid and graduated in law from the University of Deusto in Bilbao. He later worked as a state tax inspector and studied tax law at Harvard, where he obtained his Masters in Law in 1973. He has a Doctorate in Law from the Miguel Hernández University in Elche. He was first elected to parliament in 1977, resigning his seat when he was elected to the European Parliament in 1994. He has served on a number of committees for Latin America during his time as an MEP and is currently vice-chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

Justice Minister: Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón gave up his position as Mayor of Madrid, which he had held since 2003, when he was appointed to the new Cabinet. Born in Madrid on December 11, 1958, he is married with four children. Gallardón is a lawyer and obtained his degree from Complutense University in Madrid. He first entered politics as an opposition councillor at Madrid City Hall, and was then elected to the Madrid regional parliament in 1987. He was a Senator for Madrid between 1987 and 1995. He was President of the Community of Madrid between 1995 and 2003, and left regional politics that year to return to City Hall as Mayor. Gallardón is a member of the Partido Popular’s National Executive.

Defence Minister: Pedro Morenés Eulate was born in Vizcaya on September 17, 1948 and is married with three children. He has a degree in law, with experience in the Aznar-led PP government as Secretary of State for Defence, then Security and then for Scientific and Technological Policies. He has a Master’s in Shipping Management from the Bremen Institute of Shipping Economics and spent two years as Chairman of the Board of the Construcciones Navales shipbuilders. He has also been on the board of the Instalaza armaments company, was General Director for Spain for the firm MBDA missiles and was Chairman of the private security firm Segur Ibérica.

Minister for Tax and Public Administration: Cristóbal Montoro Romero was born in Jaén on July 28, 1958 and is married with two children. He is a member of the PP’s national executive and has been the party’s coordinator for economic affairs since June 2008. He was Secretary of State for the Economy and then Minister for Tax in the PP government led by José María Aznar and then spent four years as a member of the European Parliament. He has a doctorate in Economic and Business Sciences from the Autonomous University of Madrid and was Professor for Applied Economics at Cantabria University.

Minister for the Interior: Jorge Fernández Díaz was born in Valladolid on April 6, 1950 and is married with two children. He trained as an industrial engineer and is also qualified in marketing and business management. His previous experience in government was as Secretary of State for Territorial Administration, for Education, Universities, Research and Development, and for Relations with Parliament. He has been Civil Governor of Asturias and of Barcelona, was a councillor at Barcelona City Hall, a member of the Catalan regional parliament and a Senator for Cataluña. He was third Vice-President of Congress during the 2008-2011 legislature and is a member of the PP’s national executive.

Development Minister: Ana María Pastor Julián was born in Zamora in 1957 and is married with no children. She has a degree in Medicine and Surgery from Salamanca University, an MBA in Business Management, a Master’s in Hospital Management and a Master’s in Public Health and Health Administration, with extensive experience in the field of public health administration. She also lectured in political sciences at the Carlos III University. Her previous experience in government was as Minister for Health and Consumer Affairs (2002-2004), and the position of Deputy Secretary at three Ministries: Interior, Presidency, and Education and Culture. She was Vice-President of Congress during the IX legislature, and is a member of the PP’s national executive, where she is coordinator for social participation.

Minister for Education, Culture and Sport: José Ignacio Wert Ortega was born on February 18, 1950, and has a degree in law and a Master’s in political sociology. He has extensive experience in market research and opinion polls and has written a number of books and articles on electoral and political sociology. He was Technical Director of the CIS Centre for Sociological Research and also led the market research agency Demoscopia. He was a councillor at Madrid City Hall and an MP for La Coruña in the 1980s and returns to politics after 24 years in the private sector.

Minister for Employment and Social Security: Fátima Báñez García was born in San Juan del Puerto, Huelva, on January 6, 1967 and is married with two children. She has a Batchelor’s degree in law and in economic and business sciences. Joint spokesperson for the PP grouping in Congress and coordinator for economic matters 2008-2011 and also Deputy Secretary for Economy and Employment for the PP Andalucía 2004-2011. She has been a member of Congress for Huelva since 2000 and has served on several parliamentary committees for the economy during that time.

Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism: José Manuel Soria López was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1958 and is married with two children. He has a batchelor’s degree in economics and business science and is also qualified as a state economiist and commercial technician. He has been Mayor of Las Palmas, a member of Congress, a Canarias regional MP, President of the Cabildo island government of Gran Canaria and, as President of the PP in Canarias, is a member of the party’s national executive.

Minister for Agriculture, Foodstuffs and the Environment: Miguel Ángel Arias Cañete was born in Madrid on February 24, 1950 and is married with three children. He was previously Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries under the Aznar government. He has a degree in law from Complutense University and became a lawyer with the State Legal Service in 1974. His career in politics has taken him to a seat at the local Town Hall in Jerez de la Frontera, in the Andalucía regional parliament, Congress, the Senate and the European parliament, where he was President of the Fisheries Committee and the Regional Policies Committee. He is a member of the PP’s national executive as President of the party’s National Electoral Committee.

Minister for the Economy and Competition: Luis de Guindos Jurado was born in Madrid in 1960. He is a qualified state economist and holds a BSc and a PhD in economics. He was Secretary of State for Economy in the latter years of the second José María Aznar government. His positions in government have also included General Director for Economic Policy and the Defence of Competition and Secretary General for the same department. He was also Vice Chairman of the EU Economic Policy Committee and head of the Ecofin Council delegation during Spain’s presidency of the EU. His career as an economist has taken him to the board of Endesa, to Lehman Brothers as their CEO for Spain and Portugal and to PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality: Ana Mato Adrover was born in Madrid on 24 September, 1959 and is one of the PP’s General Deputy Secretaries on their national executive, where she is responsible for organisation and electoral matters. She was in charge of the party’s electoral campaigns for the European, Galician and Basque elections in 2009, and for the municipal, regional and general elections in 2011. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology from Complutense University. Mato was Deputy Director of Cabinet for the President of the regional government of Castilla y León at the end of the 1980s, and was spokesperson for press-related matters for the Partido Popular in the 1980s and for transport and telecommunications between 1986 and 2000. She has served on a number of committees in Congress during her career as a national MP and has also been a member of the Madrid regional parliament and the European parliament during her time as a politician.

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