Ana Botella Serrano (born 23 July 1953) is a Spanish politician belonging to the
People's Party and the first female
Mayor of Madrid
The Mayor of Madrid presides over the Madrid City Council, the government body of the capital city of Spain. The mayor has the duty of boosting the local policies, it directs the action of the other executive bodies, leads the Local Executive Admi ...
, from December 2011 to June 2015.
Biography
Early life
Born in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
on 23 July 1953, she took her basic education in an elite school managed by the
Congregation of Jesus (called the "Irish Mothers" in Spain).
She studied law in the
Complutense University of Madrid
The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loc ...
. After graduating, she passed a public examination to the Corps of Civil Administrators of the State, becoming a public servant. She married
José María Aznar in 1977. She became a member of
People's Alliance in 1978.
She served for 14 years as civil servant in different administrative bodies, namely the Ministry of the Interior, the Civil Governance of Logroño, the Ministry of Public Works, the Delegation of the Ministry of Finance in Valladolid and the Ministry of Finance.
Politics of Madrid
Botella served on the
Madrid City Council since 2003 where, as well as being deputy mayor, she also headed the Departments of Social Services (2003-2007) and of the Environment (2007-2011).
She was criticised for failure to tackle Madrid's air pollution which frequently exceeded permitted levels while she was responsible for the city's environment. Botella was an outspoken
climate change skeptic.
Botella was sworn in as mayor on 27 December 2011, after having been deputy mayor to
Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón
Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Jiménez (born 11 December 1958) is a Spanish politician and former Minister of Justice. He was mayor of Madrid between 2003 and 2011. A stalwart of the conservative People's Party (PP), he has previously been a leadin ...
, mayor of the capital from 2003, who had resigned to serve as
Justice Minister
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
in the new government formed by Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...
.
On 9 September 2014 Ana Botella called a press conference after having cancelled all her appointments where she announced that she would not be running in the May 2015 municipal elections for mayor.
Personal life
Botella and former Spanish prime minister José María Aznar have been married since 1977 and have three children: José María, Ana, and Alonso. Their daughter married businessman
Alejandro Agag
Alejandro Tarik Agag Longo (born 18 September 1970, in Madrid) is a Spanish businessman and former politician. He is based in London as the Chairman of Addax Capital LLP.
Early life and education
Born to an Algerian- Belgian father Youssef ...
at the
royal site of
El Escorial
El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...
on 5 September 2002.
"In pictures: Aznar's daughter marries"
2002 report, BBC Ana Botella has four grandchildren by her daughter.
Electoral history
References
Bibliography
*Botella, Ana. ''Mis ocho años en La Moncloa''
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Botella, Ana
1953 births
Living people
Mayors of Madrid
Women mayors of places in Spain
Spouses of prime ministers of Spain
People's Party (Spain) politicians
Spanish Roman Catholics
Madrid city councillors (2011–2015)
Madrid city councillors (2007–2011)
Madrid city councillors (2003–2007)