Isabel Díaz Ayuso | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Isabel Díaz Ayuso in 2024 | |
| President of the Community of Madrid | |
| Assumed office 19 August 2019 | |
| Vice President | Ignacio Aguado (2019−2021) Enrique Ossorio (2022–2023) |
| Preceded by | Ángel Garrido (acting,Pedro Rollán Ojeda) |
| President of thePeople's Party of the Community of Madrid | |
| Assumed office 21 May 2022 | |
| Secretary-General | Alfonso Serrano |
| Preceded by | Cristina Cifuentes (acting,Pío García-Escudero) |
| Deputy Councillor of the Presidency and Justice of the Community of Madrid | |
| In office 26 September 2017 – 22 May 2018 | |
| President | Cristina Cifuentes |
| Preceded by | Enrique Ruiz Escudero |
| Succeeded by | José Enrique Núñez Guijarro |
| Member of theAssembly of Madrid | |
| Assumed office 11 June 2019 | |
| In office 15 July 2011 – 26 September 2017 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1978-10-17)17 October 1978 (age 47) Madrid, Spain |
| Party | PP (2005–present) |
| Spouse | |
| Domestic partner | Alberto González (2021–present) |
| Alma mater | Complutense University of Madrid |
| Signature |  |
Isabel Natividad Díaz Ayuso (Spanish pronunciation:[isaˈβelˈdi.aθaˈʝuso]; born 17 October 1978) is a Spanish politician who has served as thepresident of the Community of Madrid since 2019.[1] She is also the president of thePeople's Party of the Community of Madrid since 2022.
A member of thePeople's Party, and the vice-secretary of communication and spokeswoman of theparty's Madrilenian branch,[2] she was the regional candidate for president of the Community of Madrid ahead of the2019 Madrilenian autonomous election.[3][4] Although her party lost theautonomous elections for the first time since May1991, she was later elected president by theAssembly of Madrid. Her administration represented several firsts: it was the first time that the region was run by a coalition government—formed by Ayuso's own conservative People's Party (PP) andCitizens—and it was the first time thatVox propped up an autonomous executive in Madrid.[5] Under her leadership, the regional branch of the People's Party has obtained both its worst result (in2019) and its best result ever (in2021) in number of votes.
Born on 17 October 1978 in Madrid in theChamberí district, her parents were involved in the trade of medical and orthopaedic goods.[6][7] She has a degree in journalism from theComplutense University of Madrid (UCM)[8] and a master's degree in Political Communication and Protocol.[6]
Her partner between 2016 and 2020 was the hairdresser Jairo Alonso.[9] Her current partner is Alberto González Amador.[10]
Ayuso was baptized as a Catholic but became irreligious at age nine after her grandfather's death.[11] During the COVID-19 pandemic, she returned to the Catholic faith, stressing the importance of seeing people pray for her well-being.[12]
She is a co-owner of a property management business she inherited from her father.[13]
Affiliated to the Popular Party (PP) in 2005, whenPablo Casado was the president of New Generations in Madrid, in 2006, she was hired by Alfredo Prada, Minister of Justice and the Interior of the Government of theCommunity of Madrid, for his press department, gaining the confidence of Esperanza Aguirre.[14] Specialized in political communication, she directed the online area of the PP, taking charge ofCristina Cifuentes' digital campaign in 2015.[15]
A candidate on the PP list for the 2011 Madrid Assembly elections, she was not elected as a Member of Parliament at the time. She entered the ninth legislature of the regional parliament on 15 July, filling the vacancy caused by Engracia Hidalgo's resignation.[16] She renewed her act as a deputy in the 2015 elections. During the X legislature she served as deputy spokesperson for her group, a position she abandoned along with her status as a deputy when she was appointed vice-counselor of the Presidency and Justice of the regional government.[17]
On 11 January 2019, PP president Pablo Casado appointed her to lead the party in the2019 Madrilenian regional election. In that election on 26 May, the PP list obtained 22.23% of valid votes and 30 seats, the second most voted list after thePSOE, with 27.31% of valid votes and 37 seats.[18]
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Proposed as a candidate for the Presidency of the Community of Madrid by the President of theAssembly of Madrid,Juan Trinidad, who had previously prevented an investiture session for Ángel Gabilondo by scheduling an investiture session without a candidate in July 2019,[19] Díaz Ayuso was sworn in as President of the regional government on 14 August, with 68 votes in favour (corresponding to members of the Popular, Citizens' and Vox parliamentary groups in Madrid) and 64 against (corresponding to members of the Socialist, Más Madrid and United We Can-Madrid en Pie parliamentary groups).[citation needed]
In January 2020, she hiredMiguel Ángel Rodríguez Bajón as chief of staff. Her vice president,Ignacio Aguado, then explained his disagreement with the decision.[20]
On 1 December 2020, Díaz Ayuso inaugurated theHospital Isabel Zendal,[21] praised by her government but heavily criticised by the opposition for its cost overruns and its use as an "advertising campaign".[22]
AfterStorm Filomena, the opposition criticised her government performance, accusing it of "lack of anticipation" against the incidences caused by the storm, that seriously damaged some infrastructure and parks in the region as well as trapping many citizens of the region for the night on the road, with snow accumulation of more than 50 centimeters in some points.[23][24]
Six months after Díaz Ayuso's inauguration as President of the Community of Madrid, theCOVID-19 pandemic reached Spain with special virulence in the Community of Madrid. In accordance with thestate of alarm decreed by theSpanish government on 14 March 2020, the government of the Community of Madrid, like the other autonomous communities, took immediate measures [required clarification] such as the closure of schools and leisure centres, shows and sports events, retired people's day centres, religious celebrations, the closure of hotels and tourist accommodation, shops considered not to be of basic need and the limitation of travel to those needed to go to work or buy food. It also adopted protection measures in public transport, and tax reductions in the payment of Business Tax (IAE) and Property Tax (IBI) for leisure, hotel and commercial premises, travel agencies and large stores, on the condition that they maintain the jobs until the end of the year. Presential activity was suspended in all Community Citizen Service offices, andremote work was encouraged.[25]
In view of the saturation of hospital services, Díaz Ayuso's government used the ferial enclosure IFEMA as an emergency hospital, which emploed 5,500 hospital beds in order to attend to all patients. IFEMA hospital was built in a record time of less than 2 weeks, and the idea of the emergency hospital gave rise to the future Zendal Hospital, inaugurated a few months later. Hotels in Madrid were also used to look after less sick patients.[26] Ayuso stopped appearing before the Madrid Assembly on 5 March 2020, and the chamber was closed for more than a month.[27]
Díaz Ayuso was criticised for delivering high-quality FFP2 and FFP3 protective masks to the citizens of theCommunity of Madrid for free, which arguably could result in these kinds of masks becoming scarce in hospitals – it was later revealed that hospitals were also well-supplied with this equipment.[28] In May 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic in Spain, her Director General of Public Health,Yolanda Fuentes, resigned, disagreeing with Díaz Ayuso's decision to request the transfer from phase 0 to phase 1 of the confinement, because it was not based on "health criteria", a position Ayuso reportedly took after a meeting with businessmen.[29][30]
Díaz Ayuso opposed the request of her coalition partners, theCitizens party, for the army to intervene in retirement homes.[31] However, the army did so, against her own criteria, finding corpses and people "in extreme situations and in poor sanitary conditions.[31]
In October 2020, Alberto Reyero, the regional minister responsible for nursing homes, announced his resignation, wishing "good luck and success in the task that she has ahead" to Díaz Ayuso. He also mentioned that "the unity of the institutions is the most successful way to defeat the virus", criticizing the confrontation between the regional and national administrations.[32] However, six days later, the central government approved the State of Alarm for the Community of Madrid following unsuccessful talks and confrontation between Díaz Ayuso and PM Pedro Sánchez.[33] On 20 October 2020, two health officials of the Ayuso administration (the manager of Primary Attention and the manager of Hospitals) handed in their resignation.[34]
On 10 March 2021, following an announcement by theSpanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) andCitizens (Cs) to bring down thePeople's Party-led government in theRegion of Murcia, Díaz Ayuso announced the breakup of her alliance with Cs in her own region and called asnap election in the Community of Madrid scheduled for 4 May. However, both the PSOE andMás Madrid preventively filedmotions of no confidence in an attempt to thwart Díaz Ayuso's move.[35][36][37]
She approved tax reform in April 2021 to lower the estate and gift tax.[38]
Following her party's victory in theMay elections, she was able to form a new government of thePeople's Party of the Community of Madrid with the external support ofVox, after her former colleagues of Citizens failed to gain a single seat.[39]
On 31 August 2021, she announced her intention to contest the leadership of the regional branch of the party, a position left vacant since the resignation of former PresidentCristina Cifuentes.[40]
In February 2022, Spanish media revealed Diaz Ayuso’s People’s Party made repeated attempts to illegally spy on her in the hope of obtaining sensitive information and blackmailing her out of the race to seize control of the Madrid branch of the party. The party’s federal leadership closed in on then-unreleased allegations Ayuso’s brother was involved in €1.5 M worth of healthcare material purchased by her administration at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020 in Spain. When disclosed, she reacted by insisting her brother’s business deals were performed according to law and received no special treatment, whilst publicly accusing her party’s top officials of conspiring against her. The scandal was sealed with the resignation of both PP President Pablo Casado and Deputy President García Egea, Ayuso herself managing to survive relatively unscathed and emboldened in her bid for the party’s leadership in Madrid.[citation needed]
Between 200,000 and 670,000 demonstrators gather on 13 November 2022 in Madrid to defend the public health system in the region and against a proposed reform of the sector. The demonstration is aimed at the health policies of Isabel Diaz Ayuso, who wants to developpublic-private partnerships and restructure the community care system. According to the unions, these services have been under pressure for several years, due to a lack of resources and personnel, and to poor regional management.[41]
Following the2023 Madrilenian regional election, the People's Party obtained its first absolute majority under her leadership, which allowed her to govern without the need of the far-right Vox for the first time.
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Díaz Ayuso isneoliberal on economic issues.[42] She has been described as apopulist by several international newspapers, includingPolitico,[43]The Guardian,[44] andThe Times.[45]
Having broken in as leader of the PP candidacy with a harsh speech close in style to that ofJosé María Aznar,Esperanza Aguirre andPablo Casado, Díaz Ayuso declared herself to be "next toVox, not in front of it".[46] In May 2021, she stated that "when they call you a fascist you know you’re doing something right."[47] In April 2021, she stated that she and PP "agreed on fundamental issues" with the far-right party Vox and "that will continue to be the case."[48]
In 2023, she called for the Basque nationalist partyEH Bildu to be banned, claiming that "ETA is still alive" in the party.[44] She has claimed that formerPodemos secretary generalPablo Iglesias Turrión was "born from evil, to do evil."[49]
Some of her positions and comments have strained relations with her government partners,Ciudadanos, which have led to an early election.[50] She has been compared to current American presidentDonald Trump by several of her critics.[51][52]
In the same month of April, when she was already the candidate for the presidency of theCommunity of Madrid, she proposed that children conceived but not born yet be counted as members of family units for the purpose of applying for social aid or school places. She did not clarify whether these aids would be maintained in the event that the baby was not born.[53] In February 2020, she stated that the LGBT law of the Community of Madrid approved by her predecessor in office – who also belonged to thePeople's Party and of which she herself voted in favour – was a consequence of "tyrannical progressivism" and that, if it were up to her, "some articles would have to be repealed".[54] During a heated debate withRocío Monasterio, the president ofVox Madrid, Díaz Ayuso stated that she does not want to repeal the LGBT law or any other social laws. Instead, she believed that these laws can be "improved upon".[55] In December 2023, Díaz Ayuso's government approved reforms to the regional LGBT laws that eliminated penalties for discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, becoming the first jurisdiction in Europe to do so.[56][57]
She joined a chorus of politicians, including Spain's Socialist Prime MinisterPedro Sánchez, that repudiated the demand for an apology for colonialism by the President of Mexico,Andrés Manuel López Obrador.[58] Ayuso accused the Mexican President of instigating an "indigenism that is the new communism", and later said that indigenous movements across Latin America were promoting "a simplistic revision of Spanish history", the wrecking of "Spain's legacy in the Americas…[such as] the mixing and fusion of cultures that have forged such strong Atlantic links", and that Spain "took Spanish and... Catholicism, and therefore civilisation and freedom, to the American continent”.[59] She further disagreed withPope Francis's statement that the Catholic Church should ask forgiveness for its actions in Mexico.[59]
Regardingclimate change, she says it "has always existed" anddismissed "apocalyptic claims" as part of a "communistplot".[60] In April 2019, she claimed night traffic jams were a "hallmark" of the city of Madrid, lamenting their disappearance with the start-up of the low-emission zoneMadrid Central.[61] Later, in an interview withEl País, she clarified that "... I love the nightlife here, I have lived it with intensity. I hate traffic jams: I hate them. I just miss that nightlife and everyone has understood what I meant".[46]
In September 2021 Díaz Ayuso was awarded the Bruno Leoni Prize in recognition of the policies implemented by the Community of Madrid to address the COVID-19 epidemic, avoiding indiscriminatelockdowns and aiming to preserveindividual freedoms and economic activities. The prize is awarded byIstituto Bruno Leoni, an Italianclassical-liberalthink tank.[62] This was the first instance of a government personality being selected while in office.[63] Previously, the prize had been awarded to personalities such asNobel laureatesVernon L. Smith andMario Vargas Llosa, academics (Richard Pipes andDeirdre McCloskey), and democracy activists (Leopoldo López and Canan Arin).[64]
| Election | List | Constituency | List position | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madrilenian regional election, May 2011 | People's Party | Madrid | 74th (out of 129) | Not elected (entered later in the regional Parliament) |
| Madrilenian regional election, May 2015 | 23rd (out of 129) | Elected | ||
| Madrilenian regional election, May 2019 | 1st (out of 132) | Elected | ||
| Madrilenian regional election, May 2021 | 1st (out of 136) | Elected | ||
| Madrilenian regional election, May 2023 | 1st (out of 136) | Elected |
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