The current President of the Council, the popular Maria Guardiola (Cáceres, 1978), once again faced with the polls after bringing forward the elections due to the impossibility of achieving the budgets. Far from endangering his presidency, these elections confirmed his leadership, but he did not achieve his priority objective: an absolute majority. With 29 seats, one more than in previous elections, Guardiola has a large advantage, taking into account the historic defeat of the PSOE.
Beyond the expected victory, The unknown around Guardiola is how he will govern: seeking specific support or coalition, likely with Vox. His intention, logically, is not to cede any ministry to the formation led by Santiago Abascal, a formation with which he had numerous clashes during the last weeks of the electoral campaign. But this is just speculation for now.
A “successful” strategy, according to her, consists of moving away from Vox and capturing the moderate female vote, which the PSOE had traditionally gathered: “It is her personal brand, to say: “We don’t bite anyone, I’m anti Vox” and give confidence to the women’s sector. » In the last elections, she presented herself with solid ideals, for which she defended reduce the tax burden or relax environmental legislation make environmental protection compatible with economic growth. All this while defending the figure of women, even supporting the Ministry of Equality in the campaign launched with the slogan “The Gentle Man”.
He thus sought to distance himself from the most conservative party, with which he had already had disagreements during the previous legislature. After the meeting at the polls on May 28, 2023, the popular announced his refusal to agree with Vox after successfully ending four decades of socialist governments. The equality of seats (28) with the PSOE placed him between a rock and a hard place: he could only form a government with the support of the Green Party. And that’s precisely what he had to do, which is why he ended up dropping out to form the Executive.
Throughout the legislature, there were several confrontations with his partners, who precisely They “forced” her to go to the polls after not supporting the budgets. The last clash took place in early December, when he spoke about Santiago Abascal: “It’s obviously he doesn’t like me“. He also accused him of sending “sexist” messages, emphasizing that “if Guardiola insists (on not agreeing with them), perhaps the PP will have to change candidates.”
With two children and a long political career
María Guardiola was born in Cáceres on December 5, 1978. She is currently married to a bank account executive and is mother of two teenagers. Jorge, 17, and Carmen, 12. Some colleagues have already described her as a close person, from an average family and very connected to reality, who enjoys spending quality time with those close to her.
A member of the Popular Party since 2012, in 2018 he obtained a degree in business administration and management and a degree in commercial sciences from the University of Extremadura. Also approved the objections this led her to work as a Council official. She was municipal councilor of Cáceres from 2015 to 2021, general secretary of Economy and Finance and, later, general secretary of Science and Technology of the Extremadura government of José Antonio Monago.
In July 2022, he succeeds José Antonio Monago and becomes president of the People’s Party in the autonomous community that he now presides over. At first, she was just an unknown candidate, municipal councilor of Cáceres, where she remained in opposition until her electoral victory. However, little by little he made a place for himself with his own policies and now, finally, he has consolidated his figure at the head of the community of Extremadura. It’s your turn to play politics.
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