María Cristina Cifuentes Cuencas (born 1 July 1964) is a former Spanish politician from the People's Party. She was the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munic ...

from 24 June 2015 to her 25 April 2018 resignation. From 16 January 2012 to 13 April 2015, she served as the Government Delegate in the Community of Madrid.

Biography

In 1980, when Cifuentes was 16, she became a member of People's Alliance, which would later become the People's Party of Spain. She studied law at 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 loc ...

. In 2013, she suffered a traffic accident in Madrid while she was riding her motorbike, which put her in a coma for nearly a month. After being the Government Delegate in Madrid from 2012 to 2015, Cifuentes was elected President of the Autonomous Community of Madrid with the support of the centre-right Spanish party Citizens, having won the 2015 regional election and having obtained 48 representatives out of 129 in the

Assembly of Madrid The Assembly of Madrid or Madrid Assembly ( es, Asamblea de Madrid) is the unicameral autonomous legislature of the Autonomous Community of Madrid since the approval of the Madrid Charter of Autonomy in 1983. It is elected every four years duri ...

. On 21 March 2018, Cifuentes was alleged to have fraudulently obtained her

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

King Juan Carlos University Rey Juan Carlos University ( es, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, URJC) is a Spanish public research university located in the southern area of the Community of Madrid (Spain), with five campuses at Móstoles, Alcorcón, Vicálvaro, Aranjuez and ...

. On 5 April 2018, a judicial investigation of the case was opened. On 25 April 2018, she resigned as President of the Community of Madrid, after the release of a 2011 video that showed her being detained in a supermarket for

shoplifting Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...

(goods worth €40), with Ángel Garrido succeeding her as acting president of the community. On 27 April 2018, she resigned from the presidency of the People's Party of the Community of Madrid. On 8 May 2018, Cifuentes resigned from her seat in the

and announced her retirement from politics. On 2 September 2019 the

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; en, National Court) is a centralised court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in a certain scope of delinquency, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those ...

charged Cifuentes together with fellow former regional premiers Ignacio González and

Esperanza Aguirre Esperanza Aguirre y Gil de Biedma (; born 3 January 1952) is a Spanish politician. As member of the People's Party (PP), she served as President of the Senate between 1999 and 2002 (becoming the first female politician to have held the post), a ...

with alleged crimes of illicit funding, diversion of public money and document forgery in the proceedings of the Púnica corruption case. As of October 2019, she appeared in the television program ''Ya es mediodía'' as a panelist, and in February 2020, she was signed on ''Todo es mentira''.

Electoral history

References