Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has carried out the largest government reshuffle since taking office in January 2020. The government is getting younger and the proportion of women is now 63 percent higher than before (54 percent), said Sánchez. Above all, it is a matter of effectively using the “great opportunity” that results from the EU billions in aid for economic reconstruction after the corona pandemic. The newspaper La Vanguardia spoke of a political earthquake.
The most important change was that of Nadia Calviño to the post of first deputy head of government, previously held by the left-wing Carmen Calvo. Calviño, who surprisingly failed to elect the new head of the euro group a year ago, is now number two in the minority government made up of the socialist PSOE and the left-wing alternative Unidas Podemos.
Calviño is considered to be an advocate of a more market economy course and, as Minister of Economic Affairs, had often collided with Unidas Podemos. With this personnel decision, Sánchez emphasized the importance of economic reconstruction after the corona pandemic, the newspaper wrote El País. Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz will move from third to second deputy head of government.
Another important new appointment concerns the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The previous incumbent Arancha González Laya, who made a name for herself above all with the negotiations on the status of Gibraltar after Brexit, is leaving the cabinet. However, it had come under fire because of the crisis with Morocco. The previous ambassador of Spain in Paris, José Manuel Albaren, will take over her post. The Ministry of Justice is taking over the previous President of the Senate, Pilar Llop, from Juan Carlos Campo. Also at the head of five other PSOE-led ministries are new ministers.
In addition, the influential head of cabinet Iván Redondo loses his office, Óscar López inherits him. With López and the new President Félix Bolaños, who are deeply rooted in the PSOE, Sánchez is preparing for difficult times, wrote El País. It is also about improving the currently poor poll numbers by the election in late 2023 or early 2024. There were no changes to the five ministries held by the coalition partner.