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María Jesús Montero

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Spanish politician (born 1966) In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Montero and the second or maternal family name is Cuadrado.
The Most ExcellentMaría Jesús MonteroMP
Official portrait, 2023
First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain
Incumbent
Assumed office
29 December 2023Serving with Yolanda Díaz, Teresa Ribera and Sara Aagesen
MonarchFelipe VI
Prime MinisterPedro Sánchez
Preceded byNadia Calviño
Minister of Finance
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 June 2018
Prime MinisterPedro Sánchez
Preceded byCristóbal Montoro
Carolina Darias (Territorial Policy and Civil Service)
Succeeded byJosé Luis Escrivá (Digital Transformation and Civil Service)
Fourth Deputy Prime Minister of Spain
In office
21 November 2023 – 29 December 2023Serving with Nadia Calviño, Yolanda Díaz and Teresa Ribera
MonarchFelipe VI
Prime MinisterPedro Sánchez
Preceded byTeresa Ribera (2021)
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Deputy Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
23 July 2022
Secretary-GeneralPedro Sánchez
Preceded byAdriana Lastra
Spokesperson of the Government
In office
13 January 2020 – 12 July 2021
Prime MinisterPedro Sánchez
Preceded byIsabel Celaá
Succeeded byIsabel Rodríguez García
Regional Minister of Finance and Public Administrations of Andalusia
In office
10 September 2013 – 6 June 2018
PresidentSusana Díaz
Preceded byCarmen Martinez Aguayo
Succeeded byAntonio Ramírez de Arellano López (Economy, Finance and Public Administrations)
Regional Minister of Health and Social Welfare of Andalusia
In office
7 May 2012 – 10 September 2013
PresidentJosé Antonio Griñán
Preceded byHerself (Health and Consumer Affairs)
Micaela Navarro (Equality and Social Welfare)
Succeeded byMaría José Sánchez Rubio (Health and Social Policies)
Regional Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs of Andalusia
In office
25 April 2004 – 7 May 2012
PresidentManuel Chaves (2004–2009)
José Antonio Griñán (2009–2012)
Preceded byFrancisco Vallejo Serrano
Succeeded byHerself (Health and Social Welfare)
Member of the Congress of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 December 2019
ConstituencySeville
In office
21 May 2019 – 24 September 2019
Member of the Parliament of Andalusia
In office
9 September 2013 – 6 June 2018
ConstituencySeville
In office
3 April 2008 – 18 April 2012
ConstituencySeville
Personal details
Born (1966-02-04) 4 February 1966 (age 58)
Seville, Spain
Political partySpanish Socialist Workers' Party
SpouseRafael Ibáñez Reche
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Seville
EADA Business School
OccupationPhysician, hospital administrator and politician

María Jesús Montero Cuadrado (pronounced [maɾjaxeˈsus monˈteɾo]; born 4 February 1966), is a Spanish hospital administrator and politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) who has been serving as Minister of Finance under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez since 2018. In December 2023, she was promoted to First Deputy Prime Minister.

Education and early career

The daughter of teachers, Montero has a Degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Seville and master's degree in management from the EADA Business School in Barcelona.

At institutions like the Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Montero subsequently worked as a hospital administrator, holding various positions of responsibility throughout her career, mainly linked to the specialization of health management.

Political career

Montero chaired the Committee on Marginalization of the Andalusia Youth Council between 1986 and 1988, and later, general secretary of the same until 1990.

Montero served as a Socialist deputy in the Parliament of Andalusia, representing the electoral constituency of Seville.

Regional Minister of Health in Andalusia, 2004–2013

Between September 2002 and April 2004 Montero held the position of Deputy Minister of Health of the Junta de Andalucía, after which she was appointed head of the Regional Ministry of Health, a responsibility she held until May 2012, the date from which she assumed the Health portfolio and Social Welfare.

During Montero's tenure at the head of the Ministry of Health, new health rights were regulated, such as the second medical opinion, access to preimplantation genetic diagnosis, genetic counseling or dignified death. Also under her leadership, Andalusia defied a 2012 ban on free healthcare for undocumented immigrants, imposed by the central government as part of spending cuts to avoid an international bailout amid the European debt crisis.

In partnership with other institutions and the business sector, biomedical research has also been promoted, through a network of centers such as the Andalusian Center for Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine (CABIMER), the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBIS), Center for genomics and oncology research (GENYO) or the Research Center for Innovative Medicines (MEDINA).

Regional Minister of Finance in Andalusia, 2013–2018

From 9 September 2013 to 6 June 2018, Montero served as Minister of Finance and Public Administration of the Junta de Andalucía. At the head of this department, developed and approved five budgets without an absolute majority in Parliament, one with Izquierda Unida and four with Citizens. Andalusia is currently one of the few communities that complies with the rules of budgetary stability and financial sustainability (goal of deficit, debt and expenditure rule), in addition to becoming the common system community that previously pays its suppliers. Likewise, during these years important regulatory advances have been promoted in the Finance area, such as the decree of payment terms guarantees, with which the Junta de Andalucía self-imposed to reduce the maximum payment time in sectors to only 20 days. priority areas such as health, education and social services.

Minister of Finance, 2018–present

María Jesús Montero

Montero was chosen by prime minister Pedro Sánchez, following the motion of no confidence that the PSOE presented against the previous government of Mariano Rajoy (PP) and that was approved by the Congress of Deputies on 1 June 2018, to be Finance Minister in new Spanish cabinet. Felipe VI sanctioned by royal decree of June her appointment as the first female holder of the portfolio of Minister of Treasury of Spain. On 7 June she took office as Minister before the King at Palace of Zarzuela.

By January 2019, Montero presented her minority government's first budget proposal of 472.7 billion euro ($543 billion), promising to reduce its deficit to 1.3 percent of gross domestic product but also increase social spending by over 6 percent; the proposal failed to get parliamentary approval and instead prompted a snap election.

In early 2020, after the November general election of 2019, Montero was confirmed by the Prime Minister to continue in the Finance portfolio. In addition, she was appointed government spokeswoman.

Following recommendations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) aimed at reviving the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, Montero led efforts in 2020 to suspend the constitutional commitment to any deficit targets for two years and allow the government to spend and borrow at will.

In 2021, Montero steered the government’s negotiations that resulted in the Chamber of Deputies approving a total central government budget of 196 billion euros – the biggest budget in the country's history –, after Prime Minister Sánchez had won the support of the Catalan pro-independence Republican Left of Catalonia. That year, she also reported that Spain's budget deficit had narrowed to 6.76% of gross domestic product from over 10% in 2020.

Political positions

In a letter sent to their counterparts in the European Commission – Pierre Moscovici and Miguel Arias Cañete – in May 2019, Montero and Environment Minister Teresa Ribera called on the European Union to assess a potential carbon tax on power imports to protect the bloc’s interests and help it to pursue its environmental targets amid growing public concern over climate change.

Notes

  1. Minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021, Minister of Finance and Civil Service from 2021 to 2023 and again Minister of Finance from 2023.

References

  1. Paul Day (June 5, 2018), Spain's Socialist cabinet takes shape, fate of 2018 budget unclear Reuters.
  2. "Composición del Gobierno". www.lamoncloa.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  3. Daniel Dombey (November 30, 2020), Spain set to approve budget to increase role of state and taxes Financial Times.
  4. Montero Cuadrado, María Jesús (in Spanish)
  5. Rincón, Reyes (6 June 2018). "María Jesús Montero, la médica que saneó las cuentas de Andalucía". El País (in Spanish). Madrid: Prisa. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  6. Rincón, Reyes (17 March 2010). "El Parlamento andaluz aprueba la primera ley de muerte digna en España". El País (in Spanish). Sevilla: Prisa. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  7. Nigel Davies (August 24, 2012), Spain regions, doctors defy immigrant healthcare ban Reuters.
  8. "Susana Díaz prescinde de los fieles a Griñán e incorpora cinco caras nuevas a su Gobierno". Cadena SER (in Spanish). 9 September 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  9. "Andalucía aprueba sus cuentas de 2018 con un presupuesto de 34.759 millones, un 4,5% más". 20 Minutos (in Spanish). 10 October 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  10. María Jesús Montero, ministra de Hacienda (in Spanish)
  11. Real Decreto 357/2018, de 6 de junio, por el que se nombran Ministros del Gobierno (in Spanish)
  12. Los 17 del "Consejo de Ministras y Ministros" de Sánchez prometen ante el Rey (in Spanish)
  13. Real Decreto 357/2018, de 6 de junio, por el que se nombran Ministros del Gobierno (in Spanish)
  14. Belen Carreño (January 11, 2019), Spanish draft budget ups social spending, taxes rich in vote hunt Reuters.
  15. Belen Carreño and Ingrid Melander (February 13, 2019), Spain's government loses budget vote, paving way for early election Reuters.
  16. Nathan Allen (January 9, 2020), Socialist Maria Jesus Montero named Spain budget minister Reuters.
  17. Paola Luelmo and Belén Carreño (January 10, 2020), Factbox: Main figures in Spain's new government Reuters.
  18. Belén Carreño (October 20, 2020), Spain's constitutionally enshrined fiscal pledge falls victim to pandemic Reuters.
  19. Daniel Dombey (25 November 2021), Spain passes biggest budget in its history Financial Times.
  20. Emma Pinedo (25 November 2021), Spain's draft budget clears another hurdle in parliament Reuters.
  21. Inti Landauro, Nathan Allen, Belén Carreño and Emma Pinedo (31 March 2022), Spain's 2021 budget gap narrows more than expected, further cut seen Reuters.
  22. Belen Carreño (May 27, 2019), Spain proposes EU carbon tax on energy imports Reuters.

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