Spain’s Socialist (PSOE) Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, officially re-elected on Tuesday 7 January, announced his full new coalition cabinet on Sunday, which includes left-wing Podemos head Pablo Iglesias as one of four deputy prime ministers, as well as 18 further ministers.
The three other deputy prime ministers are women: Carmen Calvo (Sánchez’s previous deputy), Nadia Calviño and Teresa Ribera.
In total, there are 11 women and 11 men (excluding Sánchez himself) who will make up Spain’s first coalition cabinet. Of Sánchez’s 22 ministers, 17 are Socialists (PSOE), 4 are from Podemos, and 1 is an independent proposed by the Catalan allies of Podemos, En Comú Podem.
Sánchez takes over as head of a minority coalition government after securing his investiture by a margin of just two votes on Tuesday.
ALSO READ: Pedro Sánchez voted in as head of Spain’s first ever coalition government
With only 155 (PSOE and Podemos combined) of the parliament’s 350 seats, the new government will struggle to push through legislation, with its first target to pass the long-overdue state budget.
Alongside Pablo Iglesias, the other Podemos members of the cabinet are Irene Montero, the former party spokeswoman who will serve as Equality Minister; lawyer Yolanda Díaz as Labour Minister; Alberto Garzón as Consumer Affairs Minister; and sociologist Manuel Castells, who is close to Podemos, will head the Higher Education Ministry.
ALSO READ: Pedro Sánchez, Quim Torra finally speak – and will meet in coming days
Sánchez initially came to power in June 2018 after pushing out his right-wing People’s Party (PP) predecessor Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote. However, he was then forced to call an inconclusive election in April 2019 after Catalan pro-independence groups refused to back his draft budget. Spain remained in a political gridlock for most of 2019 after a second inconclusive general election in November.
Sánchez and Iglesias officially presented their coalition agreement on Monday 30 December.
The PSOE’s 120 seats from the 10 November general election, combined with the 35 won by the left-wing Podemos party, had left them short of the majority in the Spanish Congress. The re-election of Sánchez as prime minister had been mainly in the hands of the Catalan pro-independence Esquerra Republicana (ERC) party’s 13 MPs abstaining in the voting, as well as the support from other smaller political groups.
The full coalition cabinet members are:
Carmen Calvo – 1st Deputy PM, for the Presidency & Relations with Congress (Córdoba, 1957)
Pablo Iglesias – 2nd Deputy PM, for Social Affairs & 2030 Agenda (Madrid, 1978)
Nadia Calviño – 3rd Deputy PM, for Economy (A Coruña, 1968)
Teresa Ribera – 4th Deputy PM, for Environment & Demographic Challenges (Madrid, 1969)
José Luis Ábalos – Transport, Mobility, Urban Agenda Minister (Valencia, 1959)
Isabel Celaá – Education & Professional Training Minister (Bilbao, 1949)
Juan Carlos Campo Moreno – Justice Minister (Seville, 1961)
Carolina Darias – Territorial Policy & Civil Service Minister (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1965)
Yolanda Díaz – Labour Minister (A Coruña, 1971)
Pedro Duque – Science & Innovation Minister (Madrid, 1963)
José Luis Escrivá Belmonte – Social Security, Inclusion & Migration Minister (Albacete, 1960)
Alberto Garzón – Consumer Affairs Minister (Logroño, 1985)
Arancha González Laya – Foreign Affairs Minister (San Sebastián, 1969)
Fernando Grande-Marlaska – Interior Minister (Bilbao, 1962)
Reyes Maroto – Industry, Commerce & Tourism Minister (Valladolid, 1973)
Irene Montero – Equality Minister (Madrid, 1988)
María Jesús Montero – Finance Minister and government spokeswoman (Seville, 1966)
Luis Planas – Agriculture, Fisheries & Food Minister (Valencia, 1952)
Margarita Robles – Defence Minister (León, 1956)
José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes – Culture & Sports minister (Valencia, 1968)
Manuel Castells – Higher Education Minister (Albacete, 1942)
Salvador Illa – Health Minister (Barcelona, 1966)
