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Women hold most government positions in Spain

Women in Power - Level 4

Spain's new government has eleven women and six men. Women are in most of the top positions, including defence, the economy and finance. Spain has the highest ratio of women in top government posts in Europe. New prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, praised his government. He said: "All are highly qualified and bring a vocation for public service and reflect the best of Spain." He said they have global views but are, "anchored in the European Union."

Mr Sanchez's party has just 84 of the 350 seats in parliament. He replaced Spain's leader Mariano Rajoy. Mr Rajoy was the focus of a corruption scandal. He was unpopular because of his austerity measures. Sanchez promises change. He has to work quickly to improve Spain's economy. He will call elections in less than two years. This may be too soon to change the last government's budget. Another big challenge is to repair relations with Catalonia.

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Women in Power - Level 5

Women are on the rise in Spain. The new government has eleven women and six men. The new prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, put women in most of the top positions, including head of defence, the economy, education and finance. Spain now has the highest ratio of women in top government posts in Europe. Mr Sanchez said people in his government wanted to move Spain forward. He said: "All are highly qualified and bring a vocation for public service and reflect the best of Spain. [They are]...open to the world but anchored in the European Union."

Mr Sanchez looks like an unlikely leader. His party has just 84 of the 350 seats in parliament. He replaced the unpopular conservative leader Mariano Rajoy on Friday. Mr Rajoy was the focus of a corruption scandal. He was unpopular because of his austerity measures. Sanchez promised to change Spain. He has to work quickly to improve Spain's economy. He has promised to call elections in less than two years. This may not be enough time to change the last government's budget. One of his biggest challenges will be rebuilding relations with the region of Catalonia.

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11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Women in Power - Level 6

Women are on the rise in Spanish politics. Spain's newly-formed government consists of eleven women and six men. The newly-elected socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has put women in some of the biggest positions in his cabinet, including head of defence, economy, education and finance. Spain now has the highest proportion of women in top government positions than anywhere else in Europe. In a televised statement, Mr Sanchez said his new government consisted of people who wanted to move Spain forward. He said: "All are highly qualified and bring a vocation for public service and reflect the best of Spain. [They are]...open to the world but anchored in the European Union."

Mr Sanchez seems an unlikely leader. His Socialist party holds just 84 of the 350 seats in Spain's parliament. He took office on Friday, replacing the unpopular conservative leader Mariano Rajoy. Ex-prime minister Rajoy was the focus of a corruption scandal and had become unpopular because of his austerity measures. Sanchez promised to bring change to Spain. However, he has to work quickly to turn Spain's economy around. He has promised to call elections in less than two years, which may not be enough time to amend the outgoing government's budget for 2018. One of his biggest challenges will be rebuilding relations with the northeastern region of Catalonia.

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25 online activities    |    27-page printable    |    2-page mini-lesson