Doña Don (; ; pt, Dom, links=no ; all from Latin ', roughly 'Lord'), abbreviated as D., is an honorific prefix primarily used in Spain and Hispanic America, and with different connotations also in Italy, Portugal and its former colonies, and Croatia ...

María de la Soledad Becerril y Bustamante, Marquise consort of Salvatierra (born 16 August 1944 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 ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) is a Spanish

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and long serving member of the

Spanish 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 Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...

who belongs to the People's Party (PP). In 1981 she served as the first female Government Minister in almost 50 years and later became the first female Mayor of

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. Becerril is married to Rafael Atienza y Medina, 8th Marquis of Salvatierra and Chancellor of the Royal Cavalry Armory of Seville

Early career

Married with two children, Becerril graduated in philosophy and letters at the University of Madrid, specialising in English philology. She subsequently worked as a lecturer at the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, it has a present student body of over 69.200, and is one of the top-ranked universi ...

. She entered politics in 1974 when she joined the Federation of Democratic and Liberal parties and subsequently joined the Democratic Party of Andalusia (PDA). The PDA joined with other parties in May 1977 to form the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), a coalition which won the first democratic election since the death of

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

and the end of

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

. Becerril was elected as a UCD deputy to the

representing

Seville Province The Province of Seville ( es, Sevilla) is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Málaga, Cádiz in the south, Huelva in the west, Badajoz in the north and C ...

and was re-elected at the 1979 election.

Minister of Culture

In December 1981 the new Prime Minister Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo appointed her

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizatio ...

. Becerril thus became the first female Minister in Spain since the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

, almost 50 years earlier, and only the second female Spanish Minister in history after

Federica Montseny Frederica Montseny i Mañé (; 1905–1994) was a Catalan anarchist and intellectual who served as Minister of Health and Social Assistance in the Government of the Spanish Republic during the Civil War. She is known as a novelist and essayis ...

in 1936.

People's Party

Like most UCD deputies, she lost her seat at the 1982 General Election and the UCD disbanded in February 1983. She subsequently joined the PP and in 1989 returned to the Spanish Congress as a PP deputy and was re-elected in 1996 and 2000. In 2004 she was elected to the Spanish Senate and served one term until 2008. In 2008 she returned to the Congress of Deputies, replacing Javier Arenas as head of the PP list on the recommendation of Arenas.

Mayor of Seville

Becerril also served as a local councillor in Seville. She served as Deputy Mayor from 1991 to 1995 and then Mayor of the city from 1995 to 1999 becoming the first female Mayor of Seville. In 1998, while on her way to Switzerland to promote Seville's candidacy for the 2008 Olympics, Becerril's plane was hijacked at

Valencia Airport Valencia Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de Valencia, ca-valencia, Aeroport de València) , also known as ''Manises Airport'', is the tenth-busiest Spanish airport in terms of passengers and second in the region after Alicante. It is situated west of ...

, though the hijacker surrendered without injuring any passengers.

Defender of the People (Ombudsman)

On 29 June 2012, she was appointed Defender of the People until 21 July 2017.El PSOE y el PP rompen el bloqueo institucional con un reparto de cargos
El Pais, 29 June 2012

References

External links

Biography at Spanish Congress site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Becerril, Soledad 1944 births Living people Politicians from Madrid Government ministers of Spain Ombudsmen in Spain Mayors of Seville Members of the constituent Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 1st Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 4th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 5th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 6th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 7th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 9th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the Senate of Spain Women mayors of places in Spain People's Party (Spain) politicians Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) politicians Academic staff of the University of Seville 20th-century Spanish women politicians 21st-century Spanish women politicians Women government ministers of Spain Grand Officers of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Seville city councillors