Magdalena Álvarez Arza is a Spanish Politician, who from 2004 to 2009 served as

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

(Fomento). She was born in

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

, in the

Province of Cádiz Cádiz is a Provinces of Spain, province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of ...

, on 15 February 1952. She is an MP for 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) for

Málaga Province Málaga (; ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia and the sixth most populous in the c ...

. Previously, she was the Minister for the Economy in the

Junta de Andalucía The Regional Government of Andalusia () is the government of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Regional Government and the Government Council. The 2011 budget was 31.7 billion euros. It emp ...

Pre-political life

Álvarez holds a doctorate in Economic and Business Science from the

Universidad Complutense de Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

, and taught Economics at the Spanish National Open University between 1977 and 1990; at the Escuela de Prácticas Jurídicas in Málaga (1981–1989); and at the Instituto de Estudios Fiscales (1981–1989). In 1979 she joined the Spanish Tax Inspectorate, holding various roles within the Ministry of Finance and afterwards in the AEAT, the Spanish Revenue Service. She was Chief Inspector of the Tax delegation to Málaga from 1987–1989, Director of Regional Economic Incentives (1989–1993) a Director of the Department of Financial Inspection of the National Tax Inspectorate.

Political life and judicial case

Álvarez was an MP in the Andalusian parliament for the province of Málaga, and in August 1994 she was named Minister of the Economy and Revenue for the Junta de Andalucía, becoming a member of the second cabinet of Manuel Chaves. During her time as a minister, neither of her two budgets were approved by the Parliament. In 1996, after the regional elections, she was confirmed in her post by Chaves, subsequently focusing on the payment of Andalucía's public debt and autonomous finance. In the subsequent elections, in March 2000, Chaves kept her as head of the Ministry of Economy and Revenue for the sixth Andaluz Parliament. In the Spanish General Election of 2004, she was number one on the Socialist list for the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

for the Province of Mâlaga, while supporting

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 ...

in his successful bid to become

Prime Minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the Spanish government departments, ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers (Spain), Council of Mini ...

. Just before those elections, in January, Álvarez – married and the mother of one daughter – was elected president of the Socialist Political Conference committee. After this election, she was named as Minister of Public Works. She was re-elected in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

as MP for the Province of Málaga, continuing as Minister of Public Works until April 2009 when she was substituted by José Blanco. On 2 July 2013 Alvarez was formally charged by Judge Alaya in the ERE case in Andalusia, due to a consistent pattern of alleged misappropriation of public funds between 2001 and 2010 under the leadership of the PSOE. In March 2014 the judge imposed Ms Alvarez a civil bail of 29 million Euros and proceeded to seize several properties and 6 bank accounts when she was unable to provide the guarantee.

External links

Magdalena Álvarez Arza

Profile at Spanish congress website
1952 births Living people People from San Fernando, Cádiz Members of the 8th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 9th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Women members of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) Government ministers of Spain Public works ministers of Spain Members of the 6th Parliament of Andalusia Spanish Socialist Workers' Party MEPs MEPs for Spain 2009–2014 21st-century women MEPs for Spain Women government ministers of Spain Academic staff of the National University of Distance Education {{Andalusia-politician-stub