Ana Belén Pontón Mondelo (born 27 July 1977) is a Spanish political scientist and politician for the

Galician Nationalist Bloc The Galician Nationalist Bloc ( , BNG) is a political party from Galicia (Spain), Galicia, formed with the merger of a series of left-wing Galician nationalism, Galician nationalist parties. It is self-defined as a "patriotic Popular front, front" ...

(BNG). She has served in the

Parliament of Galicia The Parliament of Galicia () is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. It is formed by 75 deputies (). Deputies are elected every four years in ordinary period, or extraordinarily upon dissolu ...

since 2004, and in 2016 was the first woman to be elected spokesperson of the BNG. She has been leader of the opposition to the region's People's Party government since the 2020 election, and led the BNG to its best-ever result in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Biography

Pontón was born in the village of Chorrente near Sarria in the

Province of Lugo Lugo is a province (Spain), province of northwestern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Ourense Province, Ourense, Ponteved ...

, and grew up in a house that her great-grandfather had built in 1904. She graduated in Political Sciences from the University of Santiago de Compostela. Pontón was first elected to the

in 2004. In February 2016, she received 85% of the votes to be the party's national spokesperson, the first woman in the role. In the July 2020 Galician elections, the BNG's vote share under Pontón jumped from 8.3% to 23.7%, and its seats from six to a record 19. The result made the party the second largest in Parliament after the People's Party of regional president

Alberto Núñez Feijóo Alberto Núñez Feijóo (, ; born 10 September 1961) is a Spanish politician who serves as Member of the Congress of Deputies and as president of the People's Party (Spain), People's Party. He served as the president of the Regional Government o ...

, and Pontón became Leader of the Opposition. The BNG had its best-ever result in the 2024 elections under Pontón's leadership, with 25 deputies and 31.5% of the vote, but did not prevent another PP majority. It was the most voted party in the largest city of

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

, and had one of the best results of any left-leaning party in the region's history.

Personal life

In January 2020, Pontón gave birth to her first daughter in

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

References

External links

* 1977 births Living people People from Sarria (comarca) University of Santiago de Compostela alumni Galician Nationalist Bloc politicians Leaders of political parties in Spain Members of the 6th Parliament of Galicia Members of the 7th Parliament of Galicia Members of the 8th Parliament of Galicia Members of the 9th Parliament of Galicia Members of the 10th Parliament of Galicia {{DEFAULTSORT:Ponton, Ana