María Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría Antón (born 10 June 1971) is a Spanish former politician of the People's Party who served as

Deputy Prime Minister of Spain Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, S ...

and Minister of the Presidency from 2011 to 2018. She was member of 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

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

from 2004 until 2018.

Biography

Education and early life

Born in

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

in 1971, Sáenz de Santamaría grew up as the only child of Pedro Sáenz de Santamaría and Petra Antón. She studied the

Licentiate Degree A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels. The Licentiate (Pontifical Degree) is a post graduate degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universitie ...

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

in the

University of Valladolid The University of Valladolid is a public university located in the city of Valladolid, Valladolid province, autonomous region of Castile and Leon, Spain. Established in the 13th century, it is one of the oldest universities in the world. The ...

(1989–1994) and got a first class honours degree, ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', achieving rank one in her promotion, first of her class, awarded top honors, with an academic record full of honours-qualifications, awarded the Bachelor's Degree Extraordinary Award conferred by the

, for her outstanding academic record. After passing a "competitive public examination" (''oposiciones''), she joined the State Lawyers Corps (an elite body of civil servant lawyers of the State). In 2005 Sáenz de Santamaría married José Iván Rosa Vallejo, with whom she has a son, born on 11 November 2011.

Start of political career

In 2000,

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 ...

's former chief of staff hired her to work as advisor to the cabinet of the First Vice-president of the Government in the

Ministry of the Presidency The Ministry of the Presidency (MPR) was the Spanish government departments, department of the Government of Spain that, from 1974 to 2023, assured the link between the different Ministries and the Prime Minister of Spain, Prime Minister and it w ...

and the Ministry of Home Affairs. From 2004 to 2008 Sáenz de Santamaría, served as secretary in the People's Party (PP) executive board, charged with the party's Regional and Local Policy. She ran as candidate to the

, 19th in the PP list for

vis-à-vis the April 2004 general election. As the PP obtained 17 seats in the constituency, she was not elected, but she assumed the office of deputy in the Lower House on 13 May 2004, covering the vacant seat caused by the resignation of

Rodrigo Rato Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo (born 18 March 1949) is a businessman and politician who served in the Council of Ministers of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He also served as the ninth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2004 ...

, who had been appointed as managing director of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

. She served as legislator for the rest of the 8th term of the

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. In the 9th term, she was chosen by

to become the

Spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for the People's Group in the Congress of Deputies, replacing Eduardo Zaplana.

Right hand of Rajoy at the Government

Following the results of the 2011 general election, which delivered an absolute majority to the PP in the Congress of Deputies,

was invested Prime Minister and formed a new cabinet. Sáenz de Santamaría became the Deputy Prime Minister and Spokesperson for the government on 22 December 2011. Sáenz de Santamaría served in the Rajoy Government as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and Minister of the Presidency from December 2011 to June 2018, as Spokesperson of the Government from 2011 to 2016, and as Minister for Territorial Administrations from November 2016 to June 2018. In 2014, for a brief time, she also assumed in acting capacity the portfolios of

Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

and

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

. On 27 October 2017, after Mariano Rajoy enforced the Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution on the Catalan government, dismissing regional premier

Carles Puigdemont Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. He has been the President of Together for Catalonia (Junts) since 2024, having previously held the office from 2020 to 2022. He served ...

, Sáenz de Santamaría was entrusted with the responsibility for overseeing the functions of the

Generalitat of Catalonia The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is Self-governance, self-governed as an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parli ...

Failed bid for party leadership

On 5 June 2018, after the successful motion of no confidence in

, and Rajoy's removal from the post of Prime Minister and his decision to also resign as leader of the People's Party, Sáenz de Santamaría postulated herself as candidate in the upcoming primaries to elect a new party leader. Soraya Saénz de Santamaría edged the 1st position in the voting held among party members with a narrow margin of 1,500 votes over Pablo Casado, with otherwise staunch rival María Dolores de Cospedal coming third. On 21 July 2018, a run-off (now voted among party delegates) between the first and second candidates in the first round was held between her and Casado. Sáenz de Santamaría lost to Casado, who became the new party leader, in what was considered a party swing towards the right. Some months following her defeat, in September 2018, Sáenz de Santamaría announced that she was leaving politics after 18 years.

Later activity

On 18 October 2018 she was appointed member of the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

, the supreme consultative body for the Spanish Government, assuming office on 8 November 2018. In March 2019, the incorporation of Sáenz de Santamaría to the Cuatrecasas law firm (both as associate and as member of the board of directors) was announced.

Positions and ideology

Saenz de Santamaría, called by many media as "the most powerful woman in Spain since (the return of) democracy", has been often considered to espouse a

technocratic Technocracy is a form of government in which decision-makers appoint knowledge experts in specific domains to provide them with advice and guidance in various areas of their policy-making responsibilities. Technocracy follows largely in the tra ...

form of governance, without a clearly defined ideology. Distanced from the party executive board except for her spell at the helm of the area of Regional and Local Policy, it has been pointed out she built her political leadership outside from the party rather than from the inside. She was regarded as the theoretical representative of the most moderate wing within the PP.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saenz de Santamaria, Soraya 1971 births 21st-century Spanish women politicians Deputy prime ministers of Spain Health ministers of Spain Living people Members of the 11th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 12th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the State Lawyers Corps People from Valladolid People's Party (Spain) politicians Women government ministers of Spain Women members of the Congress of Deputies (Spain)