Iratxe García Pérez (; born 7 October 1974) is a Spanish politician of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

(PSOE). She has served as

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

since 2004, and has served as the Leader of the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist ...

parliamentary group since 2019.

Biography

Early life

Born on 7 October 1974 in

Barakaldo Barakaldo ( es, Baracaldo; eu, Barakaldo ) is a municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country. Located on the Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is part of Greater Bilbao, has a population at 100,881. Barakaldo ha ...

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

, she obtained a diplomature in Social Work at the

University of Valladolid The University of Valladolid is a public university located in the city of Valladolid, Valladolid province, autonomous region of Castile and Leon, Spain. Established in the 13th century, it is one of the oldest universities in the world. The un ...

in 1995. A resident of

Laguna de Duero Laguna de Duero is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2016 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 22 ,696 inhabitants. It is the second largest city in Valladolid behind ...

, she served as municipal councillor of Laguna de Duero and as member of the Valladolid Provincial Deputation from 1995 to 2000.

Member of the Spanish Parliament, 2000–2004

García became a member of the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

after being elected in the 2000 general election in representation of

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

Member of the European Parliament, 2004–present

In her first parliamentary term between 2004 and 2009, García served on the

Committee on Regional Development The Committee on Regional Development (REGI) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Younous Omarjee Younous Omarjee (born 30 September 1969 in Saint-Denis, Réunion) is a French politician who ...

(REGI), the Delegation to the

Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PAUM), previously known as the ''Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly'' (''EMPA''), established in Naples on 3 December 2003 by decision of the Ministerial Conference of the Eu ...

(EMPA), and the Delegation for Relations with the Maghreb countries and the

Arab Maghreb Union The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) or simply the Maghreb Union (MU) ( ar, اتحاد المغرب العربي ', french: Union du Maghreb Arabe) is a political union and economic union trade agreement aiming for economic and future political unity am ...

(including

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

). She also serves on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and the Parliament's Delegation for Relations with the

Arab Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

. In addition, she is a member of the

European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup Intergroups are formed of Members of the European Parliament from any political group and any committee, with a view to holding informal exchanges of views on particular subjects ...

and of the European Parliament Intergroup on the

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

. In July 2014, García was elected chairwoman of the

European Parliament Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality The Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) is a committee of the European Parliament. Membership Chair Vice Chairs *Eugenia Rodríguez Palop * Sylwia Spurek * Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi *Robert Biedroń Members *Regina Bastos ...

(FEMM). In September 2014, PSOE chairman

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having pr ...

appointed her as head of the party's delegation of MEPs in the S&D Group, replacing

Elena Valenciano María Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco (born 18 September 1960) is a Spanish politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, part of the Party of European Socialists. Political career Member of the European Parliament, 1999–2008 Followi ...

. Following the 2019 elections, the S&D Group chose García as new leader, a day after incumbent

Udo Bullmann Udo Bullmann (born 8 June 1956) is a German politician who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament since 1999. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), part of the Party of European Socialists. Personal li ...

withdrew his candidacy. In March 2021, as leader of the Democrats and Socialist in the EP, she together with the parliamentary group opposed a debate on the murder of

Daphne Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia (; 26 August 1964 – 16 October 2017) was a Maltese writer, journalist, blogger and anti-corruption activist, who reported on political events in Malta. In particular, she focused on investigative journalism, repor ...

and corruption revelation in

Maltese politics The politics of Malta takes place within a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malta is the constitutional head of state. Executive Authority is vested in the President of Malta with the gen ...

; she insisted on calling it "

fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...

References

External link

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Iratxe 1974 births Living people Spanish municipal councillors Members of the 7th Congress of Deputies (Spain) MEPs for Spain 2004–2009 MEPs for Spain 2009–2014 MEPs for Spain 2014–2019 MEPs for Spain 2019–2024 21st-century women MEPs for Spain People from Barakaldo Spanish Socialist Workers' Party MEPs Basque women in politics University of Valladolid alumni 20th-century Spanish women