Women make up more than half of ministers in new Spanish cabinet

Women will hold 12 of the 22 posts in the new government named by Spain’s recently re-elected Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

“The new government is going to have a marked feminist accent with four women deputy prime ministers and more female ministers than male ministers,” Mr Sanchez said.

The cabinet will include nine new ministers while key posts remain unchanged. Nadia Calvino keeps the economy portfolio, Jose Manuel Albares remains in charge of foreign affairs and Margarita Robles stays at defence.

Mr Sanchez’s Socialist party will hold 17 ministries and its leftist Sumar (Joining Forces) coalition partner will have five portfolios.

The outgoing government’s former far-left coalition partner, Unidas Podemos (Unite We Can), will have no ministries.

The party’s former star, equality minister Irene Montero, will be replaced by Ana Redondo of the Socialist party.

Mr Sanchez was re-elected Prime Minister on Thursday with backing from 179 legislators in Spain’s 350-seat parliament. His election was opposed by 171 deputies from the centre-right Popular Party and the far-right Vox.

His new term has gotten off to a stormy start after he clinched the support in parliament of two Catalan separatist parties in exchange for a controversial amnesty proposal for hundreds of people in legal trouble over the Catalonia region’s failed secession attempt in 2017.

The proposal has triggered massive protests called by the Popular Party and Vox. Several held by extreme right-wing groups close to the Socialist party’s headquarters in Madrid ended in clashes with police.

Mr Sanchez promised to “prioritise dialogue and negotiation in a legislature that will be key for the social and territorial cohesion of Spain”.