María Teresa Mallada de Castro (born 14 January 1973) is a Spanish People's Party (PP) politician. A

mining engineer Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

, she was the first woman and youngest person to be president of the public mining corporation Hunosa (2012–2018). She has led her party in the

General Junta of the Principality of Asturias The General Junta of the Principality of Asturias (in Spanish: ''Junta General del Principado de Asturias'', in Asturian: ''Xunta Xeneral del Principáu d'Asturies'') is the parliament of Asturias, an autonomous community of Spain. Its Statute of ...

since 2019.

Biography

Mallada was born in Cabañaquinta, Asturias to a local father and a mother from the Province of Jaén in

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

. She studied Advanced Mining Engineering at the

University of Oviedo The University of Oviedo ( es, Universidad de Oviedo, Asturian: ''Universidá d'Uviéu'') is a public university in Asturias (Spain). It is the only university in the region. It has three campus and research centres, located in Oviedo, Gijón ...

and began working at a gold mine, before joining the public mining corporation Hunosa initially on an internship in 1999. At the age of 20, Mallada joined the People's Party (PP), becoming the leader of the New Generations and the party proper in the municipality of

Aller Aller may refer to: Places Rivers * Aller (Germany), a major river in North Germany *Aller (Asturian river), a river in Asturias, Spain *River Aller, a small river on Exmoor in Somerset, England Inhabited places in the United Kingdom *Aller, Devo ...

. In 2010, she became Vice Secretary of the

People's Party of Asturias The People's Party of Asturias ( es, Partido Popular de Asturias, PP) is the regional section of the People's Party of Spain (PP) in the Principality of Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, ...

and was on the list for the

2011 Asturian regional election The 2011 Asturian regional election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th General Junta of the Principality of Asturias. All 45 seats in the General Junta were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional electi ...

, without being elected. In February 2012, Mallada became president of Hunosa. She was the youngest person and first woman to hold the position. She left the corporation's presidency in July 2018 and was one of 164 employees who went into early retirement a year later when she was 46; unions and the state had agreed that those soon to be aged 51 could have early retirement due to the danger of the job. Mallada was personally chosen by PP president

Pablo Casado Pablo Casado Blanco (; born 1 February 1981) is a Spanish former politician. He was a member of the Congress of Deputies representing Madrid until 4 April 2022, having previously represented Ávila between 2011 and 2019. From 2015 to 2018, he al ...

to lead the party in the

2019 Asturian regional election The 2019 Asturian regional election was held on Sunday, 26 May 2019, to elect the 11th General Junta of the Principality of Asturias. All 45 seats in the General Junta were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elec ...

, having polled better than the previous lead candidate Mercedes Fernández. The party came second, dropping one seat to ten. Mallada's selection ahead of Fernández led to a leadership crisis in the Asturian PP, ending when the latter accepted a place in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

; the party' regional presidency remained vacant until Mallada assumed it in October 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallada, Teresa 1973 births Living people People from Aller, Asturias University of Oviedo alumni Mining engineers Spanish women engineers People's Party (Spain) politicians Members of the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias