Carmen Montón Giménez (born 9 March 1976) is a Spanish politician currently serving as Permanent Observer Ambassador of Spain to the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

. A member of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE), she served as Minister of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare under

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

and as Head of the Department of Universal Health and Public Health of the Valencian government under

Ximo Puig Joaquín Francisco Puig Ferrer (born 4 January 1959), known as Ximo Puig (), is a Spanish politician who served as President of the Valencian Government from 2015 to 2023. He was also the leader of the Socialist Party of the Valencian Country ...

Biography and career

Politics in Valencia and Congress of Deputies

Born on 9 March 1976 in

Burjassot Burjassot (; ) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Horta Nord in the Valencian Community, Spain. Museums The Museum of Geology at the University of Valencia is located on calle Doctor Moliner. It has several collections of geological and ...

, Montón is married with one child,Una valenciana feminista para evitar ‘casos Ponferrada’
El Pais, 21 March 2013 and studied

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and became involved in the youth wing of the PSOE. She entered active politics in 1999 when she was elected a councillor for her home town of Burjassot to the immediate north-west of Valencia city. She resigned from the council in 2004 when she was elected to the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

as a deputy for

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, being re-elected in 2008. She was regional counselor of Health of the Community of Valencia between 2015 and 2018. Her activity in Congress in her first year was centred on legislative preparation for laws legalising marriage between two people of the same gender. She has also spoken in favour of efforts to reduce domestic violence, including the creation of a telephone line to help males of a violent disposition, and for new laws to allow pregnant deputies to cast votes from outside the Spanish Congress.

Minister of Health

She was chosen by

, new

Spanish Prime Minister The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers. In this sense, the prime minister establishes the Gove ...

, following the

motion of censure A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

that the

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

presented against the previous government of

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 2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy, vote of no confidence ousted his government. A m ...

( PP) and that was approved by the

on 1 June 2018, appointed her as Minister in new

Spanish government The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the o ...

Felipe VI Felipe VI (; Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed For ...

sanctioned by

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...

of June her appointment as holder of the portfolio of Minister of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare.Real Decreto 357/2018, de 6 de junio, por el que se nombran Ministros del Gobierno
On 7 June she took office as Minister before the King at

Palace of Zarzuela The Zarzuela Palace ( ) is the residence and working offices of the reigning monarch of Spain (King Felipe VI), although the official residence of the Spanish royal family is the Royal Palace of Madrid. The Zarzuela Palace is on the outskirts of ...

. As Minister of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare in 2018, her policies were based in recovering health and social rights. Some of the main ones are the recovery of the access for every women to assisted reproduction techniques in the public health system and the creation of the Observatory of Women's Health. In addition, she worked on the defense of children's rights as well as starting projects for the prevention and management of suicidal behaviors. As head of Department of Universal Health and Public Health of the Valencian government from 2015 to 2018), her policies focused on public health, recovery of rights and management efficiency. Under her management, Ms. Montón reversed a privatised hospital to the public system, recovered universal health access and eliminated pharmaceutical and orthoprothesic copayments. Furthermore, she guaranteed the treatment for all the patients of hepatitis C and implemented policies that helped the Valencian transplant system to become the most successful in Spain. She improved the kidney failure care system as well as developing the plan to treat diabetes in the Valencian Community. She is responsible for the creation of the Emergency and Urgent care plan in rural and isolated areas. Moreover, she created the First Plan of Equality in the Valencian public health system and was also the first one to create a suicide prevention protocol. Other of the policies that she put in place were the Plans for Efficiency Improvement, Organization of Human Resources and the Dignification of Health Structures. In her short term as Health Minister, she managed to restore the right to

universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...

for all Spanish citizens and foreign residents in Spain (the previous government had excluded access to the

Spanish National Health System The Spanish National Health System (, SNS) is the agglomeration of public healthcare services that has existed in Spain since it was established through and structured by the ''Ley General de Sanidad'' (the "Health General Law") of 1986. Manageme ...

for irregular migrants).

Permanent Observer Ambassador of Spain to the Organization of American States and the Pan American Health Organization (2020 – present)

Since 2020, Carmen Montón has served as the Permanent Observer Ambassador of Spain to the

(OAS) and international organizations such as the

Pan American Health Organization The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) in charge of international health cooperation in the Americas. It fosters technical cooperation among member countries to fight communicable and non ...

(PAHO), where she has contributed to promoting gender equality and public health policies in the region. In 2023, she joined PAHO’s High-Level Commission on Mental Health and COVID-19 in the Americas. This commission produced the report
A New Agenda for Mental Health in the Americas
', which analyzes the impact of the pandemic on mental health in the region and proposes concrete recommendations for its improvement. In 2024, she worked closely with the

Inter-American Commission of Women The Inter-American Commission of Women (, , ), abbreviated CIM, is an organization that falls within the Organization of American States. It was established in 1928 by the Sixth Pan-American Conference and is composed of one female representative ...

(CIM), actively participating in several initiatives aimed at strengthening gender parity in public life. She was part of the drafting committee for the ''Inter-American Model Law on Parity in Public and Political Life'', an initiative led by CIM. This law seeks to establish binding regional standards to ensure equitable representation of women at all levels of political decision-making, with particular emphasis on branches of government and judicial systems. As part of this project, she also took part in CIM’s initiative on women’s leadership, "
Romper el Molde
''. In addition, since 2022
Ambassador Montón has chaired the OAS Cultural Diplomacy Leadership Circle
for the

Art Museum of the Americas Art Museum of the Americas (AMA), located in Washington, D.C., is the first art museum in the United States primarily devoted to exhibiting works of modern and contemporary art from Latin America and the Caribbean. The museum was formally establis ...

(AMA), a cultural diplomacy initiative that strengthens the museum’s role as a key space to promote the OAS's values through art. Ambassador Montón has also promoted, from Spain’s Mission to the OAS, the creation of the ''Ñ Circle of Friendship for the Spanish Language at the OAS''. Thanks to this initiative, on March 5, 2025, the OAS Permanent Council approved by acclamation the
Declaration for the Inclusion of the Spanish Language as an Official Language of the International Court of Justice
'.

References

Biography at Spanish Congress website

Personal blog
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Monton, Carmen 1976 births 21st-century Spanish women politicians Government ministers of Spain Health ministers of Spain Health ministers of the Valencian Community Living people Members of the 8th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 9th Congress of Deputies (Spain) People from Burjassot Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Politicians from the Valencian Community