List of female regional presidents in Spain
As of July 2023, 17 women have served or are serving as the president of a Spanish Autonomous Community (including three acting presidents) and none have served or are serving as presidents of the autonomous cities. Currently, five women are serving as regional presidents.
History
[edit]The first woman to act as regional president was María Antonia Martínez, who served as Acting president of Murcia for almost a month after former president Andrés Hernández Ros was forced to resign. She would be later, in 1993, elected as President of the region after once again another former president, Carlos Collado, was also forced to resign.
The first woman to assume office as regional president following a regional election was Esperanza Aguirre, who was elected on November 21, 2003, by the Assembly of Madrid, also becoming the first woman to held the position since María Antonia Martínez, and she also became the first woman to resign from her position following a corruption scandal. Since then, apart from the Region of Murcia and the Community of Madrid, eight other Autonomous Communities have elected female regional Presidents after their respective regional elections.
On 20 June 2023, Mae de la Concha became the first woman not to belong to one of the two main nationwide Spanish political parties to be appointed as regional president, although serving only in acting capacity.
To date, no woman has ever changed parties during her presidential term.
Demographics
[edit]To date, ten Autonomous Communities have elected women as regional presidents, and only Navarre and the Balearic Islands have elected women from different political parties to hold the position. Navarre was also the first community where a woman followed another woman as president, and is the first and to date only community to have three women in a row being elected as president - although the Balearic Islands have also have three women in a row as president. The Community of Madrid and Navarre are the communities that have elected the most women to the position, with three each.
As of 2021, a total of 7 autonomous communities have never had a woman as president. Those regions are: Asturias, the Basque Country, the Canary Islands, Castile and León, Catalonia, Galicia and the Valencian Community and the two autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Only one autonomous community (Castile and León) has never seen a major party nominate a woman in a regional election.
No women of color have been elected as regional president.
Esperanza Aguirre from the Community of Madrid has been the longest-serving female regional president, with a mandate of 8 years and 301 days while María Antonia Martínez from the Region of Murcia has been the shortest-serving female president.
From June 25 to July 1, 2015, from April 4 to May 3, 2017, and since July 14, 2023 there was a total of five women serving as regional presidents, making these the periods with the greatest number of women serving at the same time.
Histograph
[edit]| Starting | Total | Graph |
|---|---|---|
| March 9, 1984 | 1 (5.3%) | ❚ |
| April 1, 1984 | 0 (0%) | |
| May 3, 1993 | 1 (5.3%) | ❚ |
| July 5, 1995 | 0 (0%) | |
| November 21, 2003 | 1 (5.3%) | ❚ |
| June 22, 2011 | 2 (10.5%) | ❚❚ |
| June 28, 2011 | 3 (15.8%) | ❚❚❚ |
| July 14, 2011 | 4 (21.1%) | ❚❚❚❚ |
| September 18, 2012 | 3 (15.8%) | ❚❚❚ |
| September 6, 2013 | 4 (21.1%) | ❚❚❚❚ |
| June 25, 2015 | 5 (26.3%) | ❚❚❚❚❚ |
| July 5, 2015 | 4 (21.1%) | ❚❚❚❚ |
| April 4, 2017 | 5 (26.3%) | ❚❚❚❚❚ |
| May 4, 2017 | 4 (21.1%) | ❚❚❚❚ |
| April 26, 2018 | 3 (15.8%) | ❚❚❚ |
| January 19, 2019 | 2 (10.5%) | ❚❚ |
| August 17, 2019 | 3 (15.8%) | ❚❚❚ |
| August 29, 2019 | 4 (21.1%) | ❚❚❚❚ |
| June 30, 2023 | 3 (15.8%) | ❚❚❚ |
| July 4, 2023 | 4 (21.1%) | ❚❚❚❚ |
| July 14, 2023 | 5 (26.3%) | ❚❚❚❚❚ |
Autonomous Communities
[edit]| Portrait | Name (lifespan) |
State | Term start | Term end | Tenure | Party | Notes | Departure | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
María Antonia Martínez García (born 1953) |
 Region of Murcia
|
March 9, 1984 | March 31, 1984 | 22 days | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party | First woman serving as President of the Region of Murcia (in acting capacity). | Not reelected | [1] | |
| May 3, 1993 | July 4, 1995 | 2 years and 62 days | First woman serving as President of the Region of Murcia.
Shortest-serving woman in the post. | |||||||
.jpg)
|
Esperanza Aguirre y Gil de Biedma (born 1952) |
 Community of Madrid
|
November 21, 2003 | September 17, 2012 | 8 years and 301 days | People's Party | First woman elected President of the Community of Madrid. First woman elected president in a regional election. First woman to resign from her post. Longest-serving woman in the post. First woman to be reelected. First woman to be reelected twice. First woman to win by absolute majority. |
Resigned | [2][3] | |
.jpg)
|
María Dolores de Cospedal García (born 1965) |
 Castilla-La Mancha
|
June 22, 2011 | July 1, 2015 | 4 years and 9 days | People's Party | First and only woman elected as President of Castilla-La Mancha. First woman to defeat an incumbent president. |
Not reelected | ||
.jpg)
|
Yolanda Barcina Angulo (born 1960) |
 Navarre
|
June 28, 2011 | July 22, 2015 | 4 years and 24 days | Navarrese People's Union | First woman elected as President of Navarre. | Not up for reelection | [4] | |
.jpg)
|
Luisa Fernanda Rudi Úbeda (born 1950) |
 Aragon
|
July 14, 2011 | July 4, 2015 | 3 years and 355 days | People's Party | First and only woman elected as President of Aragon.
Oldest woman to be elected as president. |
Not reelected | [5] | |
.jpg)
|
Susana Díaz Pacheco
(born 1974) |
 Andalusia
|
September 6, 2013 | January 18, 2019 | 5 years and 134 days | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party | First and only woman elected President of Andalusia.
Youngest woman to be elected as President (39). |
Not reelected | [6][7] | |
.jpg)
|
Cristina Cifuentes Cuencas (born 1964) |
Community of Madrid
|
June 25, 2015 | April 25, 2018 | 2 years and 304 days | People's Party | Resigned | [8][9] | ||
.jpg)
|
Uxue Barkos Berruezo (born 1964) |
Navarre
|
July 22, 2015 | August 6, 2019 | 4 years and 15 days | Geroa Bai | First woman to succeed another woman in office. | Not reelected | [10] | |
.jpg)
|
Francina Armengol Socias (born 1971) |
 Balearic Islands
|
July 2, 2015 | June 20, 2023 | 7 years and 353 days | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party | First woman elected President of the Balearic Islands.
Defeated an incumbent president. |
Resigned following electoral defeat | [11][12] | |
|
|
María Dolores Pagán Arce (born 1967) |
Region of Murcia
|
April 4, 2017 | May 3, 2017 | 29 days | People's Party | Only serving in acting capacity | |||
.jpg)
|
María Chivite Navascués (born 1978) |
Navarre
|
August 6, 2019 | Incumbent | 5 years and 115 days | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party | Defeated an incumbent president.
Third woman in a row to be elected President of Navarre. |
Serving | [13] | |
.jpg)
|
Isabel Díaz Ayuso (born 1978) |
Community of Madrid
|
August 17, 2019 | Incumbent | 5 years and 104 days | People's Party | Serving | [14] | ||
.jpg)
|
Concha Andreu Rodríguez (born 1967) |
 La Rioja
|
August 29, 2019 | June 29, 2023 | 3 years and 304 days | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party | First and only woman elected President of La Rioja.
Defeated an incumbent president. |
Not reelected | [15] | |
.jpg)
|
Mae de la Concha (born 1954) |
Balearic Islands
|
June 20, 2023 | July 6, 2023 | 16 days | Unidas Podemos | Oldest woman to serve as President (68).
Succeeded another woman in office. |
Only serving in acting capacity | [16] | |
.jpg)
|
María José Sáenz de Buruaga (born 1968) |
 Cantabria
|
July 4, 2023 | Incumbent | 1 year and 148 days | People's Party | First and only woman elected President of Cantabria.
Defeated an incumbent president. |
Serving | [17] | |
.jpg)
|
Marga Prohens (born 1982) |
Balearic Islands
|
July 6, 2023 | Incumbent | 1 year and 146 days | People's Party | Third woman in a row to serve as president of the Balearic Islands.
Defeated an incumbent President |
Serving | ||
.jpg)
|
María Guardiola (born 1978) |
 Extremadura
|
July 14, 2023 | Incumbent | 1 year and 138 days | People's Party | First and only woman elected President of Extremadura. | Serving | ||
Autonomous cities
[edit]As of January 2023, since the approval of the Statues of Autonomy for Ceuta and Melilla, no woman has held the role of president.
Timeline of women serving as presidents
[edit]
See also
[edit]- List of current presidents of the autonomous communities of Spain
- President (Autonomous communities of Spain)
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Boletín Oficial de la Región de Murcia". borm.es (in Spanish). 1993-05-03.
- ^ "Real Decreto 1427/2003, de 20 de noviembre, por el que se nombra Presidenta de la Comunidad de Madrid a doña Esperanza Aguirre Gil de Biedma" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (279). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 41280. 21 November 2003. ISSN 0212-033X.
- ^ Marcos, José (17 September 2012). "Esperanza Aguirre dimite". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ "Real Decreto 917/2011, de 27 de junio, por el que se nombra Presidenta de la Comunidad Foral de Navarra a doña Yolanda Barcina Angulo" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (153). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 68736. 28 June 2011. ISSN 0212-033X.
- ^ "Real Decreto 1022/2011, de 13 de julio, por el que se nombra Presidenta de Aragón a doña Luisa Fernanda Rudi Úbeda" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (168). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 78534. 14 July 2011. ISSN 0212-033X.
- ^ "Real Decreto 667/2013, de 5 de septiembre, por el que se nombra Presidenta de la Junta de Andalucía a doña Susana Díaz Pacheco" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (214). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 64529. 6 September 2013. ISSN 0212-033X.
- ^ "Real Decreto 5/2019, de 17 de enero, por el que se declara el cese de doña Susana Díaz Pacheco como Presidenta de la Junta de Andalucía" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (16). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 4185. 18 January 2019. ISSN 0212-033X.
- ^ "Real Decreto 533/2015, de 24 de junio, por el que se nombra Presidenta de la Comunidad de Madrid a doña Cristina Cifuentes Cuencas" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (151). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 52631. 25 June 2015. ISSN 0212-033X.
- ^ Pérez Mendoza, Sofía (25 April 2018). "Cristina Cifuentes dimite como presidenta de la Comunidad de Madrid". eldiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 April 2018.
- ^ "Real Decreto 703/2015, de 21 de julio, por el que se nombra Presidenta de la Comunidad Foral de Navarra a doña Miren Uxue Barcos Berruezo" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (174). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 61749. 22 July 2015. ISSN 0212-033X.
- ^ "Butlletí Oficial de la Comunitat Autònoma de les Illes Balears". caib.es (in Catalan). 2015-07-02.
- ^ Disposición 14603 del BOE núm. 146 de 2023
- ^ "Real Decreto 494/2019, de 5 de agosto, por el que se nombra Presidenta de la Comunidad Foral de Navarra a doña María Victoria Chivite Navascués" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (187). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 85208. 6 August 2019. ISSN 0212-033X.
- ^ "Real Decreto 495/2019, de 16 de agosto, por el que se nombra Presidenta de la Comunidad de Madrid a doña Isabel Natividad Díaz Ayuso" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (197). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 92201. 17 August 2019. ISSN 0212-033X.
- ^ EFE (2019-08-27). "La socialista Concha Andreu, presidenta de La Rioja con apoyo de Podemos e IU". ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-06-13.
- ^ Redacción (2023-06-20). "Mae de la Concha (UP), nueva presidenta en funciones de Baleares". Crónica Balear (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ "BOE-A-2023-15471 Real Decreto 568/2023, de 3 de julio, por el que se nombra Presidenta de la Comunidad Autónoma de Cantabria a doña María José Sáenz de Buruaga Gómez". www.boe.es. Retrieved 2023-07-04.