Maria Guardiola (Cáceres, 1978) The stakes are high this Sunday, December 21 during the regional elections of Extremadura. To his 47 years old recently completed, the current chairman of the board of directors faces what will be her second election as a candidate for People’s Party … after those of 2023, where it occupied second position, a short distance from the PSOE, then led by the late Guillermo Fernández Vara. Although he did not win on this occasion, he managed to achieve a decisive agreement with Vox take the oath and become the first woman to lead the Council, something she wants to repeat in 2025 after summoning Extremadurians to the polls in advance due to the impossibility of executing next year’s budgets.
Although she has only been at the head of the Extremadura PP since July 2022, the truth is that the Cáceres native has a long curriculum vitae behind her. The “popular”, who had never been linked to a formation, arrived in politics by pure chance, at the hands of the José Antonio Monagoformer leader of the PP and who was president of the region between 2011 and 2015, who chose her to be Secretary General of Economy and Finance and Science and Technology during his mandate. Since then, her career has only skyrocketed, driven by her very firm opposition to Pedro Sánchez and the PSOE and by the “feminist” discourse she has held since coming to power.
The woman from Cáceres arrives at this new electoral meeting on December 21 with two clear objectives to fulfill: not only does she want to win and be the most voted for for the first time in an election, but she aspires to rule alone after his complete breakup with Vox. A scenario which, according to surveys, seems difficult to achieve for her and her team. But what do we know about the life of María Guardiola on a more personal level? This is everything you need to know about the current president of Extremadura and PP candidate in the region.
Absent father and eldest of four siblings
THE separation from parents Very young, she marked a good part of the childhood of María Guardiola, who had to deal with the absent figure of her father, who He left home when he was only three years old.. This, according to those around her, far from destabilizing her, greatly strengthened her character and made her bond even closer with her mother, Dolores, her great heroine in life and the fundamental pillar of the person that the current President of the Council has become.
After this painful divorce, Dolores, who was already the mother of two children, María and Fernando, He had to return to his parentswhere the wife of Cáceres grew up with her grandparents. Nine people lived in this small apartment at the time (her grandparents, her mother, her uncles, her brother and her), but, despite the difficulties, she remembers her childhood as a moment “very happy, full of laughter and songs”.
Years later, Guardiola’s mother started a new life with José Antonio, Guardiola’s stepfather. Following this marriage, Blanca and Carmen, the little sisters of the leader of the PP of Extremadurawith whom he maintains excellent relations despite the age difference that separates them.
From folding t-shirts to being top of your class and passing two exams
Before becoming known in national politics, María Guardiola had already demonstrated her talent in studies. HE Bachelor of Business Administration and Management (ADE) from the University of Extremadura, which he combined with various jobs such as sales assistant at Cortefiel, private mathematics teacher And telephone directory distributor pay for the diploma and driving license.
Despite these economic difficulties, he achieved the best results of his promotion, which opened the doors to the world of work. She first interned at the Council as an intern and, shortly after, He appeared in two oppositionsthose who have a higher degree in economics and another with an intermediate degree, and passed both examsobtaining a place of work in the administration of the region.
As a civil servant, the popular worked in areas such as information management, personnel, economics and budgeting, public accounting, budget analysis and control, innovation, as well as administrative contracts, management of grants, benefits and social services.
What he didn’t know then was that the future had even greater things in store for him. The “popular” leader, who She was never affiliated with the New Generations of the PPentered politics almost by chance, as his father-in-law told the newspaper El Periódico de Extremadura, and was about to join the PSOE. However, he was the former president of the PP and the Board of Directors, Jose Antonio Monagowho convinced her to be part of his government, signing her to be Secretary General of Economy and Finance and, after, Science and technology.
Under Monago’s tutelage, Guardiola served as Cáceres city councilor and he gained weight within the party until becoming one of its main figures in Extremadura. Thus, in 2022, she became the person chosen to replace her superior in Parliament from 2011 to 2015, thus becoming the president of the PP of Extremadura and, barely a year later, in the first woman to lead the region. Achievements which, in recent years, have led many supporters of the Conservative Party to nickname her “the Ayuso of Extremadura” for her irresistible rise since she was chosen to lead the team.
Married to a BBVA employee and father of two children
Regarding her love life, María Guardiola’s great support in her political rise has been her husband, José Vicente Giletean employee of the BBVA bank in Badajoz whom he met in a Francisco de Asís camp in Cargamaría (Cáceres), according to Vanity Fair. Their relationship began years later, when two met during university and they felt a real crush.
The couple He walked down the aisle in 2005in a ceremony that took place in the Santa María Co-Cathedral, when she was already a Council official. Despite his wife’s work, José Vicente always tried to stay in the background, as the “popular” clearly expressed when thanking her for not having “clipped his wings”: “He assimilates it little by little, he respects me and, even if he doesn’t want to know anything about this world, he knows that I want to make my dream come true.
Following their consolidated marriage, their two teenagersJorge, who has just become an adult, and Carmen, who also became a great support during his arrival at the Presidency of Extremadura. Although he kept them out of the spotlight, he also dedicated heartfelt words to them on several occasions.
This happened last May, on the occasion of the graduation of her firstborn, after which she published a family photo with young people and her husband. “How quickly you grew, how much you learned, and how much you taught us. Seeing you come this far with your joy, your talent and your efforts is one of the greatest prides of my life.. This is just the beginning, my son. “Congratulations!” he wrote alongside the intimate photograph.
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