María Teresa Rodríguez-Rubio Vázquez (; born 18 September 1981) is a Spanish

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 ...

. Active in the United Left in her youth, she then set up her own platform, Anticapitalistas. She was a

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 ...

representing Podemos from 2014 to 2015, and was the party's presidential candidate for the 2015 and 2018 Andalusian parliamentary elections. She left Podemos in 2020 and founded Adelante Andalucía (2021).

Biography

Early life and United Left

Rodríguez was born in

Rota, Andalusia The town of Rota is a Spanish municipality located in the Province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Its surface area is 84 km2 and is bordered by the towns of Chipiona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. It is located near the city o ...

to parents who ran a perfumery. She studied Arab Philology 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 ...

, where she took part in her first political activism against the American

Naval Station Rota Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota ( es, Base Naval de Rota, links=no), is a Spanish-American naval base commanded by a Spanish Rear Admiral. Located in Rota in the Province of Cádiz, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military c ...

in her hometown, and against the People's Party (PP) reform of universities. Rodríguez was active in the United Left (IU) from an early age, featuring on the United Left/The Greens (IULV) list for the

2000 Andalusian regional election The 2000 Andalusian regional election was held on Sunday, 12 March 2000, to elect the 6th Parliament of the autonomous community of Andalusia. All 109 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with the 2000 ...

when she was 18. As part of a current named "Espacio Alternativo", she formed part of the IU's federal executive from 2003 to 2008.

Podemos

Having left IU, Rodríguez launched Anticapitalistas in 2008, first under the name Izquierda Anticapitalista, running unsuccessfully in the

2009 European Parliament election in Spain The 2009 European Parliament election in Spain was held on Sunday, 7 June 2009, as part of the EU-wide election to elect the 7th European Parliament. All 50 seats allocated to Spain as per the Treaty of Nice—54 after the Treaty of Lisbon came ...

and the

2011 Spanish general election The 2011 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 20 November 2011, to elect the 10th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate. An ele ...

. In the 2011 Spanish local elections she ran for mayor of

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, taking 1.56% of the vote (915 votes). Rodríguez joined Podemos, founded in early 2014. In the

2014 European Parliament election in Spain The 2014 European Parliament election in Spain was held on Sunday, 25 May 2014, as part of the EU-wide election to elect the 8th European Parliament. All 54 seats allocated to Spain as per the Treaty of Lisbon were up for election. The People ...

, she was second on their list, which had five members elected. It took over 1.2 million votes and was the fourth most voted party in Spain. She voted against a European Union condemnation of the situation in Ukraine in 2015 because "it continues to consider Russia solely responsible for the conflict, maintaining for the European Union a defiant position by insisting on sanctions against Russia, which so far have only caused a crisis in the agricultural sector with significant consequences for farmers". In February 2015, Rodríguez received 80.6% of the votes to lead Podemos in the

2015 Andalusian regional election The 2015 Andalusian regional election was held on Sunday, 22 March 2015, to elect the 10th Parliament of the autonomous community of Andalusia. All 109 seats in the Parliament were up for election. President Susana Díaz chose to terminate the coa ...

. The party entered the

Parliament of Andalusia The Parliament of Andalusia ( es, Parlamento de Andalucía) is the legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia instituted by the Andalusian Charter of Autonomy of 1981. It is elected by the residents of Andalusia every four years. ...

for the first time with 15 seats, and she subsequently received 84.92% of the votes to be Podemos's secretary general in the region. Rodríguez led the Adelante Andalucía coalition in the

2018 Andalusian regional election The 2018 Andalusian regional election was held on Sunday, 2 December 2018, to elect the 11th Parliament of the autonomous community of Andalusia. All 109 seats in the Parliament were up for election. As a result of the previous election, the Span ...

, coming fourth with 17 seats, three fewer than its composite parties won in 2015.

Exit from Podemos

In February 2020 Rodríguez and her Anticapitalistas platform left Podemos via a video with party leader Pablo Iglesias. Her branch of Podemos was the only one that had opposed the entrance of the party into the

Second government of Pedro Sánchez The second government of Pedro Sánchez was formed on 13 January 2020, following the latter's election as Prime Minister of Spain by the Congress of Deputies on 7 January and his swearing-in on 8 January, as a result of the Spanish Socialist Work ...

alongside 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 gove ...

(PSOE). The following year, she created a party also named Adelante Andalucía, prompting a legal challenge from

Unidas Podemos Unidas Podemos (), formerly called Unidos Podemos () and also known in English as United We Can, is a democratic socialist electoral alliance formed by Podemos, United Left, and other left-wing to far-left parties in May to contest the 2016 Sp ...

which retained the name in the region. Her party took only two seats, including her own, in the

2022 Andalusian regional election The 2022 Andalusian regional election will be held during the year 2022, to elect the 12th Parliament of the autonomous community of Andalusia. All 109 seats in the Parliament will be up for election. The 2018 election resulted in the first maj ...

. Inmaculada Nieto, leader of Unidas Podemos's new Por Andalucía coalition, blamed Rodríguez for dividing the left; the first Adelante Andalucía had taken 17 seats in 2018 while its two successors totalled seven in 2022. In March 2022 she was amongst 151 international feminists signing ''Feminist Resistance Against War: A Manifesto'', in solidarity with the

Feminist Anti-War Resistance Feminist Anti-War Resistance (FAR or FAWR, russian: Феминистское антивоенное сопротивление (ФАС), Feministskoye antivoyennoye soprotivleniye (FAS)) is a group of Russian feminists founded in February 2022 to ...

initiated by Russian feminists after the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Personal life

Rodríguez is the domestic partner of

José María González Santos José María González Santos (born 22 September 1975), mononymously known as Kichi, is a Spanish politician and teacher, Mayor of Cádiz since 2015. Biography Born on 22 September 1975 in Rotterdam, where his parents had immigrated fleeing t ...

, the mayor of Cádiz known by the nickname "Kichi". The couple have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Teresa 1981 births People from Rota, Andalusia University of Seville alumni Rodríguez, Teresa Spanish Trotskyists Fourth International (post-reunification) United Left (Spain) politicians Podemos (Spanish political party) politicians MEPs 2014–2019 Podemos (Spanish political party) MEPs 21st-century Spanish women politicians Members of the 10th Parliament of Andalusia Members of the 11th Parliament of Andalusia