Marta Silva de Lapuerta (born 15 February 1969) is a Spanish jurist. A member of the

State Lawyers Corps The State Lawyers Corps (Spanish: ''Cuerpo de Abogados del Estado'') is a body of top civil servants in Spain, dependent on the Solicitor General of the State, itself organically integrated (currently) within the Ministry of Justice. It was crea ...

since 1996, she was the

Solicitor General of Spain The Solicitor General of the State is a senior official of the Ministry of Justice (Spain), Ministry of Justice. The Spanish Solicitor General is the person in charge of directing the Legal Service of the Spanish Government and its relationship w ...

from 2012 to 2016, the first woman to hold the office. She also served on the boards of

Real Madrid CF Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and

Sacyr SACYR S.A. () is a Spanish infrastructure operator and developer company based in Madrid. History The company was founded in 1986 as Sociedad Anónima Caminos y Regadíos and was renamed Sacyr in 1991. The company received their first concession ...

Biography

Silva was born in Madrid. Her father

Federico Silva Muñoz Federico Silva Muñoz (28 October 1923 – 12 August 1997) was a Spanish politician who served as Minister of Public Works of Spain between 1965 and 1970, during the Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist d ...

(1923–1997) was also a member of the

, and the Minister of Public Works from 1965 to 1970 during the dictatorship of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

. She was the youngest of nine children, including Rosario Silva de Lapuerta (born 1954), who in 1978 became the first woman member of the State Lawyers Corps, and later served on the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...

. On her maternal side, her uncle

Álvaro Lapuerta Álvaro de Lapuerta Quintero (22 September 1927 – 2 June 2018) was a Spanish politician who sat on the Congress of Deputies between 1977 and 2004, and served as treasurer of the People's Party from 1993 to 2008. He was questioned regarding ...

(1927–2018) was another member of the same body, and the treasurer of the People's Party (PP) from 1993 to 2008; her grandfather (1897–1968) was also a state lawyer. Silva graduated with a law degree from the

Universidad CEU San Pablo CEU San Pablo University () is a private Catholic university located in Madrid, Spain, with campuses in Moncloa (Madrid) and in Montepríncipe (Alcorcón). It is run by the Centro de Estudios Universitarios (CEU Foundation). It was established ...

in Madrid. She was admitted to the State Lawyers Corps in 1996. She was on the board of directors at

during the first presidency of

Florentino Pérez Florentino Pérez Rodríguez (; born 8 March 1947) is a Spanish businessman and the president of football club Real Madrid, as well as chairman and CEO of Grupo ACS, a civil engineering company. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest club ...

(2000–2006), serving as secretary general. Also on the board was Luis del Rivero, president of the construction company

, who appointed her onto its board. In January 2012, the

Minister of Justice 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 ...

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 leadin ...

, appointed Silva as

. She was the first woman to hold the office. In November 2015, she filed the state's appeal against a motion passed by the

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as Deputy (legislator), deput ...

to begin the process of independence. She was replaced by Eugenio López Álvarez in November 2016. Silva received the Grand Cross of the

Order of Saint Raymond of Peñafort The Order of the Cross of St. Raymond of Peñafort () is a Spanish civil order of merit. Established 23 January 1944, the five classes recognize service to and contributions toward the development and perfection of the law and jurisprudence. The ...

, a state award for services to law and justice, in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Marta 1969 births Living people Lawyers from Madrid Members of the State Lawyers Corps 20th-century Spanish lawyers 21st-century Spanish lawyers Real Madrid CF non-playing staff 20th-century Spanish women lawyers 21st-century Spanish women lawyers