María del Carmen Calvo Poyato (born 9 June 1957) is a Spanish politician and author who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and Minister of the Presidency from 2018 to 2021. Born and raised in

Cabra, Spain Cabra is a rural town in Córdoba province, Andalusia, Spain and the site of former bishopric Egabro. It lies along the route between Córdoba and Málaga in the south of Spain. It is an entrance point to the Parque Natural de las Sierras Sub ...

, she attended the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, it has a present student body of over 69.200, and is one of the top-ranked universi ...

and the University of Córdoba; she holds a doctorate in

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in fe ...

from the latter institution. She was Regional Minister of Culture of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

between 1996 and 2004. She also served between 2004 and 2007 as Minister of Culture in the government of

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. ...

. Since June 2017, she has served as Secretary of Equality of the Socialist Party. She has published several books about feminism and gender equality.

Early life and education

Calvo's primary studies were carried out at a

Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

and her high school studies at the Aguilar and Eslava High School in the province of Córdoba. She studied law at the

and got her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in the University of Córdoba. Calvo took a leave of absence from being

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

of constitutional law at the University of Córdoba. At the university, she was Secretary General and

vice-dean {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019 A sub-dean is a person who acts as an assistant to a dean either in church circuit as a priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediator ...

of the Faculty of Law between 1990 and 1994. From 1992 to 1996 she was secretary of the Andalusian Interuniversity Institute of Criminology.

Political career

Calvo entered politics in the 1990s, when she was appointed Counselor of the Economic and Social Council of Córdoba between 1994 and 1996. She joined the Socialist Workers' Party in 1999.

Regional Minister of Culture of Andalusia

In April 1996, Calvo was appointed Minister of Culture of the

Regional Government of Andalusia The Regional Government of Andalusia ( es, Junta de Andalucía) 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 ...

under the presidency of Manuel Chaves. Having joined the Socialist Workers' Party in 1999, she was elected MP for Córdoba in the

Parliament of Andalusia The Parliament of Andalusia ( es, Parlamento de Andalucía) is the legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia instituted by the Andalusian Charter of Autonomy of 1981. It is elected by the residents of Andalusia every four years. ...

in 2000. She was in office between her appointment in 1996 until her appointment as

Culture Minister A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizatio ...

of the

Government of Spain gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , d ...

. During her eight-years-term as Regional Minister of Culture, Calvo inaugurated the

Museo Picasso Málaga The Museo Picasso Málaga is a museum in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, the city where artist Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born.Maestranza Theatre of

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...

— as well as developing the Quality Plan for the Museums of Andalusia —which included the enlargement of the Archelogic Museum of Córdoba. In 2004 Calvo debuted in the big screen with director

José Luis García Sánchez José Luis García Sánchez (born 22 September 1941) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. He has directed 30 films since 1968. He wrote for the 1973 film '' Habla, mudita'', which was entered into the 23rd Berlin International ...

with a short role in the movie ''María querida''.

Minister of Culture

In January 2004, she made the leap to national politics when the Secretary-General of the Socialist Workers' Party, Zapatero, created a "committee of notables" to advise him on his run to the premiership and appointed her a member of that committee. In the Spanish general election in March 2004, she was elected to the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

, representing Córdoba. She was subsequently appointed Minister of Culture in April by the new

Prime Minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government ( es, link=no, Presidente del Gobierno), is the head of government of Spain. The office was established in its current form by the Constitution of 1978 and it was first regul ...

. As Minister of Culture, Calvo was an outspoken opponent of copyright

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, and in 2005 her department spent around one million

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s on a campaign to educate the public about the importance of

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

. However, she was criticised by music industry officials for her statement that intellectual property is "not an absolute right". Her decision to transfer documents from the

General Archive of the Spanish Civil War The General Archive of the Spanish Civil War (Spanish: ''Archivo General de la Guerra Civil Española'') is a specialist archive containing material related to the Spanish Civil War. It is part of Spain's National Historical Archive and is locat ...

to the

Autonomous community of Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

was controversial. Because of the bad results of the previous year in the Spanish cinema, in 2007 Calvo presented a draft law that forces the movie theaters to shown European films (at least a 25%). This was rejected by most of the film industry and they went to strike on June 18, 2007, a strike followed by a 93% of the industry. Minister Calvo was replaced in July 2007 and her successor approved this law with big modifications in late 2007. She was one of the ministers with worst approval ratings and was replaced in July 2007 by César Antonio Molina.

First Vice President of the Congress

After leaving the Ministry, Calvo was elected First Vice President of the Congress of Deputies, a position she held until the end of the congressional session. In the 2008 general election, Calvo was re-elected MP for Córdoba and was appointed Chair of the Congress Committee on Equality, as well as becoming a member of the Congress Committee on Defence and Committee on Comprehensive Disability Policies. She also presided over two subcommittees, one on abortion and other about gender violence. Calvo did not run for re-election in the 2011 general election due to her disagreement with the choice to put Rosa Aguilar at the top of the electoral list in Córdoba. She returned to her post as professor of constitutional law in the University of Córdoba. She later gained the confidence of Secretary-General of the Socialist Party

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having p ...

and in 2017 he appointed her Secretary for Equality of the Socialist Workers' Party.

Deputy Prime Minister

Vicepresidenta Calvo en la Conferencia Sectorial de Igualdad 2018 (Cropped)

On June 5, 2018, it was announced that

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

would appoint Calvo as

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

and Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Equality. This was the first time that the Ministry of the Presidency also took the equality portfolio. She was sworn in before the King at Palace of Zarzuela on 7 June 2018. During her term, Calvo focused on

gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply a ...

, especially in the wake of the La Manada rape case. In this so-called "wolf pack" case in which a group of men attacked an 18 year old woman, the Provincial Court of Navarre convicted the men of sexual abuse —nine years in prison— and not for sexual assault or rape —that would mean at least 20 years. The Court's decision provoked widespread social unrest. Calvo proposed a reform of the Criminal Code to include explicit sexual consent. After appealing the sentence, the High Court of Justice of Navarre confirmed the sentence of the provincial court. In November 2018, Calvo also proposed to amend to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

to exclude some words that can be considered offensive for disabled people and to create a constitutional mandate that especifically protects disabled women. In October 2019, she was an outspoken proponent of exhuming the remains of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

from

Valle de los Caídos The Valley of the Fallen (Spanish: Valle de los Caídos; ) is a Catholic basilica and a monumental memorial in the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, erected at Cuelgamuros Valley in the Sierra de Guadarrama, near Madrid. Dictator Fran ...

. On 13 January 2020 she was sworn in again as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidency in the Sánchez Second Cabinet, losing the Ministry of Equality in favor of Irene Montero. In June 2021, Calvo reaffirmed during an interview with ''

La Vanguardia ' (; , Spanish for "The Vanguard") is a Spanish daily newspaper, founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan (Spanish copy is automatically translated into Catalan). It has its headquarters in Barcelona and i ...

'' that the pardons of

Catalonian independence The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginnings ...

politicians were near and asked the People's Party not to "confront Catalonia (because) the only alternative was normalizing relations and stop the tremendous confrontation provoked by independentism, the Spanish right and stabilize the situation". In 2022, a report was issued that claimed that President Sánchez offered Calvo the position of President 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 o ...

after dismissing her as Vice President of the Government.

Personal life

Calvo is the sister of the politician and writer José Calvo Poyato, former MP of the Parliament of Andalusia and former Mayor of Cabra. At the age of 19, she married her childhood sweetheart, with whom she had a daughter at the age of 22. She and her daughter share a love for

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...

. Subsequently, she married sociologist Manuel Pérez Yruela, former spokesperson of the

and researcher professor of the Institute of Social Studies of Andalusia. They divorced. She has two granddaughters. On 25 March 2020, she tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

during the first wave of the pandemic. '' Público'' announced that Calvo had recovered from the illness in May 2020. She is a fan of

bullfighting Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations. There are several variations, including some forms w ...

Awards and honours

* 1998: Fiambrera de Plata, a prize awarded annually by the Athenaeum of Córdoba. * 2007: Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III. It was granted for being a minister. * 2008: Favorite Daughter of Cabra, an honorary title given by the City Council of Cabra. She's the first woman to have it. * 2017: 2017 Progressive Women Award for her outstanding career as a feminist, as well as for her political and personal involvement in the fight for equality. Award given by the Spanish Federation of Progressive Women. * 2018: Ramón Rubial Award for the defense of socialist values.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvo, Carmen 1957 births 21st-century Spanish women politicians Culture ministers of Spain Deputy Prime Ministers of Spain Government ministers of Spain Living people Members of the 8th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 9th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 13th Congress of Deputies (Spain) People from the Province of Córdoba (Spain) Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians University of Córdoba (Spain) alumni University of Seville alumni Women government ministers of Spain Women members of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 14th Congress of Deputies (Spain)