Leire Pajín Iraola (; San Sebastián, September 16, 1976) is a Spanish sociologist and politician 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) who has been serving as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

since 2024. From 2010 to 2011, Pajín held the position of Minister of Health, Social Policy and Equality in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. O ...

. She served as Deputy Secretary General of the PSPV between April and July 2012.

Early life and education

Pajín was born in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

but moved with her parents to

Benidorm Benidorm ( , , ) is a municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Known as the “New York City, New York of the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean”, Benidorm has been a tourist destinatio ...

when she was a child. She graduated at the

University of Alicante The University of Alicante (, ; , ; also known by the acronym ''UA'') was established in 1979 on the basis of the Center for University Studies (CEU), which was founded in 1968. The university main campus is located in San Vicente del Raspeig/San ...

with a

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

degree in 1998.

Career

Career in national politics

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Pajín 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 ...

representing

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

. Although she had no professional experience outside her political party, Pajín was chosen to serve as the

Secretary of State for International Cooperation The secretary state for international cooperation (SECI) is a senior minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Spanish government. The SECIPIC is appointed by the king with the advice of the foreign minist ...

and the President of the

Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) () is an autonomous agency of the Spanish government responsible for the management of the government's international development cooperation policy. Its original name was S ...

(AECID) from 2004 to 2008 in the first Zapatero government. In this capacity, she was involved in the development and approval of the Master Plan for Spanish Cooperation (2005-2008) that increased Spanish official development aid threefold to 0.5% of GDP. From 2007, she was a member of the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

’s High Level Advisory Council on Women's Economic Empowerment, which was chaired by Danny Leipziger and

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul (born 21 November 1942) is a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 1965. Early life and career Wieczorek-Zeul (pronounced ''VEE‐choreck TSOIL'') began her career as a teacher 1965� ...

. After briefly serving as Minister for Health, Social Policy and Equality in 2010/11, Pajín remained deputy for Alicante.

Career in the non-profit sector

In July 2012 Pajín announced that she would temporarily quit politics and consequently her seat in the Chamber of Deputies. Between 2012 and 2014, she served as Special Advisor to 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) and was a policy advisor to the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP) Post-2015 Agenda team. From 2014 to 2024, Pajín served as Director of Global Development at the Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) of Barcelona, a non-profit think tank supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

Member of the European Parliament, 2024–present

In parliament, Pajín has been serving on the

Committee on Development The Committee on Development (Commission du développement, DEVE) is a committee of the European Parliament responsible for promoting, implementing and monitoring the development and cooperation policy of the European Union, notably talks with deve ...

. In addition to her committee assignments, she is part of the parliament’s delegations to the

Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly The Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) is a trans-national body of 150 Parliamentarians from Europe and Latin America. It was established in 2006 to bolster EU-Latin American relations. It was described by Benita Ferrero-Waldner ...

and for relations with the countries of the

Andean Community The Andean Community (, CAN) is a free trade area with the objective of creating a customs union comprising the South American countries (Andean states) of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The trade bloc was called the Andean Pact until 1 ...

Other activities

* EU-LAC Foundation, President (since 2020) * Friends of the Global Fund (Europe), Member of the Board of Directors (since 2020)Board of Directors
Friends of the Global Fund (Europe). * OECD Development Centre on Latin America, Member of the advisory board on the Latin American Economic Outlook 2008

References

1976 births Politicians from San Sebastián Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Health ministers of Spain Living people Women government ministers of Spain University of Alicante alumni People from Benidorm Members of the 7th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 8th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 9th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 10th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Spanish Socialist Workers' Party MEPs MEPs for Spain 2024–2029 {{Valencia-politician-stub