María Guardiola Martín (born 5 December 1978)
is a Spanish
People's Party (PP) politician serving as the
President of the Autonomous Government of Extremadura since 2023. After two decades as a civil servant within the
Government of Extremadura, Guardiola was elected to the city council in her hometown of
Cáceres in 2015.
Guardiola resigned from her city council seat in 2022 when she was elected leader of the
People's Party of Extremadura
The People's Party of Extremadura (, PP) is the regional section of the People's Party of Spain (PP) in Extremadura. It was formed in 1989 from the re-foundation of the People's Alliance People's Alliance may refer to:
* People's Alliance ( ''V ...
, the first woman to lead one of
Extremadura
Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...
's two main parties. As its lead candidate in the
2023 Extremaduran regional election, Guardiola's party won an equal number of seats to the incumbent
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). After at first refusing due to ideological differences, she formed a coalition government with
Vox in which she would be president; the coalition collapsed due to national issues in 2024.
Biography
Early life and local politics
Guardiola was born in
Cáceres,
Extremadura
Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...
. When she was three years old, her father abandoned the household. She, her mother and her brother moved into her grandparents' house for financial reasons; she has two younger half-sisters from her mother's second marriage. She idolised
Mother Teresa
Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...
as a child. As of 2023, she is married and has a daughter and a son.
Guardiola graduated in Business Administration and Management, and Business Sciences, both from the
University of Extremadura
University of Extremadura (in ) is a Spanish public university in Extremadura (Badajoz and Cáceres).
It was founded in 1973 by Decree 991/1973, May 10 ( BOE May 18) of the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain.
Currently the University ...
. She then worked for over two decades as a civil servant within the
Government of Extremadura.
[ A member of the People's Party (PP), she was elected to her hometown's city hall in ]2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
, serving as the councillor in charge of the economy under mayor Elena Nevado. She won a second term in 2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, though her party lost control, and remained there until her resignation in July 2022.
Election as regional party leader
In 2022, Guardiola was the only candidate who received the necessary signatures to run for the leadership of the People's Party of Extremadura
The People's Party of Extremadura (, PP) is the regional section of the People's Party of Spain (PP) in Extremadura. It was formed in 1989 from the re-foundation of the People's Alliance People's Alliance may refer to:
* People's Alliance ( ''V ...
, replacing José Antonio Monago who had held the role since 2008. Her only previous experience in elected office was in her hometown's city council, where the PP was in opposition, and she became the first woman to lead one of the region's two major parties.[ She was chosen by national party leader Pablo Casado as part of a trend of the party selecting municipal politicians for regional candidacies, and the party endorsement was carried over by Casado's successor ]Alberto Núñez Feijóo
Alberto Núñez Feijóo (, ; born 10 September 1961) is a Spanish politician who serves as Member of the Congress of Deputies and as president of the People's Party (Spain), People's Party. He served as the president of the Regional Government o ...
.[ Fernando Pizarro, the three-term mayor of ]Plasencia
Plasencia () is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cáceres, Extremadura. , it has a population of 41,047.
Plasencia is located in the Western-Central Iberian Peninsula, to the south of the Sistema Central. Housing primarily ...
– the fourth largest city in the region – ran a grassroots campaign but withdrew with a week remaining to focus on re-election, leaving Guardiola as the only candidate.
President of Extremadura
In the 2023 Extremaduran regional election, the governing 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) and the PP drew with 28 seats each, though the former had more votes. Guardiola began negotiating with the five deputies of Vox to form a majority government. Her actions went against the instructions of Feijóo, who demanded that all assemblies and councils be run by the most voted party, instead of what he called a "pact of losers"; this was in reference to the PSOE forming governments with minor left-wing and nationalist parties. Guardiola initially rejected a pact with Vox, due to their positions on gender-related violence, immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...
and LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...
, and supported standing in a re-run election. On 30 June, she formed a pact in which she would be President of the Regional Government of Extremadura and Vox would run the Ministry of Rural Affairs; she was invested on 14 July with the votes of the PP and Vox. During the disagreements between the two parties, the PSOE candidate Blanca Martín was re-elected President of the Assembly, the position of speaker.
In July 2024, Vox's national leader Santiago Abascal
Santiago Abascal Conde (; born 14 April 1976) is a Spanish politician who has been the Vox (political party)#Presidents, president of Vox since 2015. He has also been the Patriots.eu#President, president of Patriots.eu since 2024, and has been a ...
announced the withdrawal of his party from PP-led coalitions in five autonomous governments, including Extremadura, due to a dispute about migration. In March 2025, the two parties joined together to repeal of the Historical Memory Law as per their 2023 platform, in exchange for Vox's support on tax issues.
Political views
Guardiola has been likened to Isabel Díaz Ayuso
Isabel Natividad Díaz Ayuso (; born 17 October 1978) is a Spanish politician and journalist serving as the president of the Community of Madrid since 2019. She is also the president of the People's Party of the Community of Madrid since 2022 ...
, another PP member who was relatively unknown when selected by the party as a regional candidate, and who was elected President of the Community of Madrid.[ Guardiola dismissed the comparisons. In June 2023, between Guardiola's refusal to form a pact with Vox and the pact being formed, Mayte Alcaraz of ''El Debate'' likened Guardiola to Ayuso for refusing to form a coalition but also Andalusia president Juanma Moreno and former Castilla–La Mancha president Cristina Cifuentes for espousing ]centrism
Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...
.
In September 2022, Guardiola received attention for applauding a campaign by the Ministry of Equality led by Podemos politician Irene Montero, which aimed to create "hombres blandengues", men who would take tasks and characteristics not associated with traditional gender roles. Two months later, she called on Montero to resign for accusing the PP of rape culture
Rape culture is a setting, as described by some sociological theories, in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to that setting's attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blamin ...
, which Guardiola considered the "gravest and repugnant" example of "political violence"; Guardiola defined herself as a feminist who aims to unite and not divide.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guardiola, Maria
1978 births
Living people
People from Cáceres, Spain
University of Extremadura alumni
People's Party (Spain) politicians
Members of the 11th Assembly of Extremadura
Women presidents of the autonomous communities of Spain