Ana Botella Serrano (born 23 July 1953) is a Spanish politician belonging to the People's Party and the first female

Mayor of Madrid The Mayor of Madrid presides over the Madrid City Council, the government body of the capital city of Spain. The mayor has the duty of boosting the local policies, it directs the action of the other executive bodies, leads the Local Executive Admin ...

, from December 2011 to June 2015.

Biography

Early life

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

on 23 July 1953, she took her basic education in an elite school managed by the

Congregation of Jesus The Congregation of Jesus is one of two congregations of Religious Sisters founded during the 17th century through the work of the nun Mary Ward, who was dedicated to female education. The other congregation is the Sisters of Loreto, a name the ...

(called the "Irish Mothers" in Spain). She studied law in the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

. After graduating, she passed a public examination to the Corps of Civil Administrators of the State, becoming a public servant. She married

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spain. A member of the Fre ...

in 1977. She became a member of People's Alliance in 1978. She served for 14 years as civil servant in different administrative bodies, namely the Ministry of the Interior, the Civil Governance of Logroño, the Ministry of Public Works, the Delegation of the Ministry of Finance in Valladolid and the Ministry of Finance.

Politics of Madrid

Ana Botella instantes antes de comenzar el Pleno

Botella served on the

Madrid City Council The City Council of Madrid ( es, Ayuntamiento de Madrid) is the top-tier administrative and governing body of the Madrid, the capital and biggest city of Spain. The City Council is composed by three bodies; the Mayor who leads the City Council an ...

since 2003 where, as well as being deputy mayor, she also headed the Departments of Social Services (2003-2007) and of the Environment (2007-2011). She was criticised for failure to tackle Madrid's air pollution which frequently exceeded permitted levels while she was responsible for the city's environment. Botella was an outspoken

climate change skeptic Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or th ...

. Botella was sworn in as mayor on 27 December 2011, after having been deputy mayor to

Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Jiménez (born 11 December 1958) is a Spanish politician and former Minister of Justice. He was mayor of Madrid between 2003 and 2011. A stalwart of the conservative People's Party (PP), he has previously been a leading ...

, mayor of the capital from 2003, who had resigned to serve as

Justice Minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

in the new government formed by Prime Minister

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 vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...

. On 9 September 2014 Ana Botella called a press conference after having cancelled all her appointments where she announced that she would not be running in the May 2015 municipal elections for mayor.

Personal life

Botella and former Spanish prime minister José María Aznar have been married since 1977 and have three children: José María, Ana, and Alonso. Their daughter married businessman

Alejandro Agag Alejandro Tarik Agag Longo (born 18 September 1970, in Madrid) is a Spanish businessman and former politician. He is based in London as the Chairman of Addax Capital LLP. Early life and education Born to an Algerian-Belgium, Belgian father You ...

at the royal site of

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...

on 5 September 2002."In pictures: Aznar's daughter marries"
2002 report, BBC Ana Botella has four grandchildren by her daughter.

Electoral history

References

Bibliography

*Botella, Ana. ''Mis ocho años en La Moncloa''

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botella, Ana 1953 births Living people Mayors of Madrid Women mayors of places in Spain Spouses of prime ministers of Spain People's Party (Spain) politicians Spanish Roman Catholics Madrid city councillors (2011–2015) Madrid city councillors (2007–2011) Madrid city councillors (2003–2007)