Doña The terms Don (in Spanish and Italian), Dom (in Portuguese), and Domn (in Romanian), are honorific prefixes derived from the Latin ''Dominus'', meaning "lord" or "owner". The honorific is commonly used in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, as well ...

María de la Soledad Becerril y Bustamante, Marquise consort of Salvatierra (born 16 August 1944 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) is a Spanish

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and long serving member of the

Spanish Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

who belongs to the People's Party (PP). In 1981 she served as the first female Government Minister in almost 50 years and later became the first female Mayor of

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. Becerril is married to Rafael Atienza y Medina, 8th Marquis of Salvatierra and Chancellor of the Royal Cavalry Armory of Seville

Early career

Married with two children, Becerril graduated in philosophy and letters at the University of Madrid, specialising in English philology. She subsequently worked as a lecturer at the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, in 2022 it has a student body of 57,214,U-Ranking Universidades español ...

. She entered politics in 1974 when she joined the Federation of Democratic and Liberal parties and subsequently joined the Democratic Party of Andalusia (PDA). The PDA joined with other parties in May 1977 to form the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), a coalition which won the first democratic election since the death of

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" * Franco of Cologne (mid to late 13th cent ...

and the end of

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

. Becerril was elected as a UCD deputy to the

representing

Seville Province The Province of Seville () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It borders the provinces of Málaga and Cádiz in the south, Huelva in the west, Badajoz in the north and Córdoba in the e ...

and was re-elected at the 1979 election.

Minister of Culture

In December 1981 the new Prime Minister

Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo Leopoldo Ramón Pedro Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, 1st Marquess of Ría de Ribadeo (; 14 April 1926 – 3 May 2008), usually known as Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, was Prime Minister of Spain between 1981 and 1982. Early life and career Calvo-Sotelo was ...

appointed her

Minister of Culture 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 organiza ...

. Becerril thus became the first female Minister in Spain since the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

, almost 50 years earlier, and only the second female Spanish Minister in history after

Federica Montseny Frederica Montseny i Mañé (; 1905–1994) was a Spanish Anarchism, anarchist and intellectual who served as Ministry of Health (Spain), Minister of Health and Social Assistance in the government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spani ...

in 1936.

People's Party

Like most UCD deputies, she lost her seat at the 1982 General Election and the UCD disbanded in February 1983. She subsequently joined the PP and in 1989 returned to the Spanish Congress as a PP deputy and was re-elected in 1996 and 2000. In 2004 she was elected to the

Spanish Senate The Senate () is the upper house of the , which along with the Congress of Deputies – the Lower house, lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palacio del Senado, Palace of the Senate in Madri ...

and served one term until 2008. In 2008 she returned to the Congress of Deputies, replacing Javier Arenas as head of the PP list on the recommendation of Arenas.

Mayor of Seville

Becerril also served as a local councillor in Seville. She served as Deputy Mayor from 1991 to 1995 and then Mayor of the city from 1995 to 1999 becoming the first female Mayor of Seville. In 1998, while on her way to Switzerland to promote Seville's candidacy for the 2008 Olympics, Becerril's plane was hijacked at

Valencia Airport Valencia Airport (, ) , also known as ''Manises Airport'', is the tenth-busiest Spain, Spanish airport in terms of passengers and second in the Valencian Community after Alicante Airport, Alicante. It is situated west of the city of Valencia, i ...

, though the hijacker surrendered without injuring any passengers.

Defender of the People (Ombudsman)

On 29 June 2012, she was appointed Defender of the People until 21 July 2017.El PSOE y el PP rompen el bloqueo institucional con un reparto de cargos
El Pais, 29 June 2012

References

External links

Biography at Spanish Congress site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Becerril, Soledad 1944 births Living people Politicians from Madrid Government ministers of Spain Ombudsmen in Spain Mayors of Seville Members of the constituent Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 1st Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 4th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 5th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 6th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 7th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 9th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the Senate of Spain Women mayors of places in Spain People's Party (Spain) politicians Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) politicians Academic staff of the University of Seville 20th-century Spanish women politicians 21st-century Spanish women politicians Women government ministers of Spain Grand Officers of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Seville city councillors