María Reyes Maroto Illera (born 19 December 1973) is a Spanish economist and politician who served as minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

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 ...

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 ...

from 2018 to 2023.

Early life and education

Although Maroto was born in the town of

Medina del Campo Medina del Campo is a town and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Part of the Province of Valladolid, it is the centre of a farming area. History Medina del Campo grew in importance thanks to its fairs ...

(

province of Valladolid Valladolid () is a province of northwest Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of 520,716 people in a total of 225 municipalities, an area of and a population density of 64.19 people per ...

), her parents are natives and residents of the also Valladolid town of Ataquines, where she spent her childhood and youth. She graduated in Economics from 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 u ...

Career in academia

Maroto worked in the Ideas for Progress Foundation between 2011 and 2013, and has been an associate professor in the Department of Economics at the

Charles III University of Madrid University Charles III of Madrid ( es, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) (UC3M) is a public university in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Established in 1989, UC3M is an institution with a distinctly international profile. It offers a broad ran ...

Political career

Regional deputy

Candidate number 20 on the list of the

Spanish Socialist Worker's Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

(PSOE) for the regional elections of May 2015 in 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 ...

, Marto was elected and became deputy of 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 ...

, in which she served as socialist spokeswoman in the Committee of Budgets, Economy, Finance and Employment. She resigned from her parliamentary seat on 6 June 2018.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, 2018–2023

Maroto was appointed by

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 ...

to integrate his new Council of Ministers, following the

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that the

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

presented against the previous government of

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 le ...

( PP) and that was approved by 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 ...

on 1 June 2018.

Felipe VI Felipe VI (;, * eu, Felipe VI.a, * ca, Felip VI, * gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, an ...

sanctioned her appointment as holder of the portfolio of Industry, Commerce and Tourism by

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

, becoming the first woman to held the post. On 7 June she took office as Minister before the King at Palace of Zarzuela.

Controversy

On 26 April 2021, Reyes Maroto received an envelope with a bloodstained razor or knife, days after Minister of Interior

Fernando Grande-Marlaska Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gómez (born 26 July 1962) is a Spanish judge, serving as minister of the Interior since June 2018 under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Biography Early life and career Born in Bilbao, he is the son of Avelino Grande, an ...

, former Second Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias, and Director of the Guardia Civil María Gámez received envelopes with bullets inside of them.Spanish minister gets knife in post, suspect identified - police
�''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

'', April 26, 2021. When the

Cumbre Vieja The Cumbre Vieja (; meaning "Old Summit") is an active volcanic ridge on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The spine of Cumbre Vieja trends in an approximate north–south direction, comprising the southern half of La Palma, ...

volcano on

La Palma La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...

began to erupt on 19 September 2021, Reyes Maroto declared that the eruption on La Palma could be used as a tourist attraction to lure visitors. Her comments caused widespread criticism, because the Cumbre Vieja volcano is dotted with numerous homes, public buildings and businesses which began to be destroyed by the lava flows. Later, due to mounting criticism, including from opposition politicians, Reyes Maroto retracted her words.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maroto, Reyes 1973 births 21st-century Spanish women politicians Government ministers of Spain Industry ministers Living people Members of the 10th Assembly of Madrid Members of the 13th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the Socialist Parliamentary Group (Assembly of Madrid) People from Medina del Campo Charles III University of Madrid Spanish economists Industry ministers of Spain Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians University of Valladolid alumni Women government ministers of Spain Women members of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 14th Congress of Deputies (Spain)