Mónica García Gómez (pronounced [ˈmonika ɣaɾˈθi.a]; born 16 January 1974) is a Spanish anesthesiologist and politician, current coordinator and spokesperson of the political party Más Madrid in the Madrilenian Assembly. She was an elected deputy during the X legislature of the Madrilenian Assembly under the Spanish political party Podemos, and is currently a deputy in the XI legislature as part of Más Madrid. Since 2015, García has combined her political work with her job in health care, with a 50% reduction in working hours.[1][2] She was appointed Minister of Health in the third government of Pedro Sánchez following the 2023 Spanish general elections.[3]
Mónica García Gómez | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Minister of Health | |
| Assumed office 21 November 2023 | |
| Monarch | Felipe VI |
| Prime Minister | Pedro Sánchez |
| Preceded by | José Miñones |
| Member of the Assembly of Madrid | |
| In office 9 June 2015 – 20 November 2023 | |
| Coordinator of Más Madrid | |
| Assumed office 10 July 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 January 1974 Madrid, Spain |
| Political party | Más Madrid (since 2019) |
| Other political affiliations | Podemos (2014–2019) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Complutense University of Madrid |
| Occupation |
|
Biography
editBorn on 16 January 1974 in Madrid, she got a licentiate degree in Medicine and Surgery from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), becoming a specialist in anesthesiology;[4][5] García, who has developed her professional career as an anesthetist at Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid,[6] took part as a spokesperson for the Association of Specialists of Madrid (AFEM) in the so-called mareas blancas ("white tides"), protests in defense of public health services.[7][8]
Included as candidate number 26 on the Podemos list for the 2015 Madrid Assembly election led by José Manuel López,[9] she was elected deputy of the 10th term of the regional legislature, joining the Parliamentary Group of Podemos Community of Madrid. At that time, she narrowly entered the Assembly (26th out of 27 elected legislators of Podemos); she conditioned the assumption of the seat to being able to continue exercising her medical profession part-time. In December 2017, by virtue of a reshuffle of the parliamentary group, García became the president of the parliamentary group replacing Marco Candela.[10] At that time, she also joined the Coordination Council of Podemos Comunidad de Madrid.[11]
Ascribed to the Podemos' faction led by Íñigo Errejón,[12] she joined the latter's list for the Más Madrid primaries in order to draw up the list for the 2019 Madrilenian regional elections in March 2019,[13] and thus she renewed her seat at the May 2019 regional election.
On 10 July 2020, the membership of Más Madrid endorsed Mónica García's list to coordinate the executive board of Más Madrid, with Pablo Gómez Perpinyà and Manuela Bergerot as additional co-coordinators, effectively becoming the visible head of the party in the Assembly of Madrid.[14]
First announced as Más Madrid candidate for the motion of no confidence against regional President Isabel Díaz Ayuso, following the ruling of the Madrid's Higher Court of Justice which rejected both her party's motion of no confidence and that of the PSOE and therefore the validity of the electoral advance after the breakdown of the government of the region, she was announced as the candidate of her party for these elections.[15][16] She refused to form a pact with Unidas Podemos and its lead candidate, former deputy prime minister Pablo Iglesias, saying "we women are tired of doing the dirty work for them to ask us to step aside at historic moments".[17]
She became the leader of the opposition in the Assembly of Madrid following the 2021 Madrilenian regional elections and the investiture of Isabel Díaz Ayuso as President of the Community of Madrid.
Following the 2023 Spanish elections, in which Más Madrid took part under the umbrella of the Sumar platform, she was appointed Minister of Health under the third Sánchez government.[18]
COVID-19 pandemic
editAs a doctor, she was on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, working at her hospital treating coronavirus patients in the intensive care unit. She has increasingly sparred with the region during her second term.[19] She asked the central government to intervene in Madrid in October following the new rise of cases,[20] and her interventions in the Madrid Assembly received much media coverage for her scathing criticisms of the regional government.[21][22][23][24]
Personal life
editGarcía is married and has three children.[25] She is an atheist.[citation needed]
Electoral history
edit| Election | List | Constituency | List position | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madrilenian regional election, May 2015 | Podemos | Madrid | 26th (out of 129) | Elected |
| Madrilenian regional election, May 2019 | Más Madrid | Madrid | 10th (out of 132) | Elected |
| Madrilenian regional election, May 2021 | Más Madrid | Madrid | 1st (out of 136) | Elected |
References
edit- ^ "La doctora que pasa las tardes en la UCI y se ha convertido en la oposición real a Ayuso". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 2020-10-04. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "Mónica García compaginará la Asamblea de Madrid con el hospital para seguir teniendo "un pie en la calle"". www.publico.es. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
- ^ "Composición del Gobierno". www.lamoncloa.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ^ Hernández, Nuria (16 October 2020). "Mónica García, la médico que veraneaba en autocaravana y da la batalla a Ayuso en Madrid". Vanity Fair.
- ^ "Errejón causa un nuevo agujero a Podemos con sus fichajes". cronicamadrid.com. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "La reforma del Hospital 12 de Octubre quedará en manos del próximo Gobierno regional | Madrid". elmundo.es. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "La política no es mi terreno". 12 October 2015. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019.
- ^ "La 'Marea Blanca' de la sanidad protesta en el centro de Madrid contra la privatización". cuatro (in European Spanish). 2013-01-07. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ . 2015-06-13 https://web.archive.org/web/20150613211446/http://www.madrid.es/UnidadesDescentralizadas/UDCEstadistica/TramitesMunicipales/Especialinformativomayo2015/Candidaturas%20Elecciones%20Asamblea%20de%20Madrid%202015.pdf.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-13. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Espinar da más peso a los errejonistas en la Ejecutiva y el grupo parlamentario de cara a 2019". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "Mónica García y Julio Rodríguez, en el consejo de coordinación de Podemos | www.diariovasco.com". 2019-03-30. Archived from the original on 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "El 'errejonismo' vuelve a la primera fila". Madridiario. 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
- ^ "Errejón ficha a varios diputados de Podemos para su lista por Madrid". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "Mónica García liderará la dirección de Más Madrid en la Comunidad tras el respaldo de los afiliados". Europa Press. 2020-07-10. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ Caballero, Fátima (2021-03-10). "Ayuso rompe con Ciudadanos y convoca elecciones anticipadas en Madrid". ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-03-19.
- ^ Varela, Cristina Armunia Berges, Paloma Martínez (2021-03-10). "El Gobierno de Ayuso comunicó a la Asamblea de Madrid la convocatoria electoral dos minutos antes de que se diera tramitación a las mociones de censura". ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-03-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Viejo, Manuel (17 March 2021). "Mónica García, la candidata de Más Madrid que le ha dicho no a Pablo Iglesias". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 March 2021.
- ^ "Mónica García elegida como nueva ministra de Sanidad". Enfermería21 (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ^ "La doctora que pasa las tardes en la UCI y se ha convertido en la oposición real a Ayuso". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 2020-10-04. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ Caballero, Fátima (2020-09-26). "Mónica García: "El Gobierno de Sánchez tiene que asumir el control de Madrid"". ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "El aplaudido repaso de Mónica García, diputada en Madrid, a la "esperpéntica" actuación del consejero de Sanidad de Ayuso". Público (in Spanish). 11 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "Mónica García: "El Gobierno de Madrid ha elegido ser virus"". El HuffPost (in Spanish). 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "Mónica García (Más Madrid): "Las UCI de Madrid están colapsadas, no hay camas para otras patologías"". Antena3 (in Spanish). 2020-10-09. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "La indignación de Mónica García (Más Madrid) con el Gobierno regional: "Deberían ir a un hospital para ver de qué va esta pandemia"". LaSexta (in Spanish). 2020-10-02. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "La doctora que pasa las tardes en la UCI y se ha convertido en la oposición real a Ayuso". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 2020-10-04. Retrieved 2020-10-11.