Meet Teresa Ribera, the new Competition Commissioner

“Brilliant, committed and competent”. This is how her own party describes Teresa Ribera, one of the heavyweights of Spanish and now also European politics. The still third vice-president of the government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge was appointed Executive Vice-President for Competition and Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition by Ursula con der Leyen, President of the European Commission, this Tuesday, September 17.

With a solid and consolidated political career, he faces a five-year mandate in the College of Commissioners and, from Magas, we want tell you his story so you don’t miss any details.

“An unbeatable career”

“Everything indicates that he will play a very important role”This was anticipated a few days ago by Lina Gálvez, MEP of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament and current chair of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament (FEMM), in a conversation with magicians.

He did not fail in his bets and, even if he did not want to wet In relation to the portfolio that Von der Leyen would assign to her, this guaranteed the great weight that Ribera would have in the new commission. Today, Madrid politics finally has its reward, Gálvez therefore assures that it is “an unbeatable career”.

With nearly 20 years of political experience under his belt, Ribera began by obtaining a law degree from the Complutense University of Madrid.. Shortly after, he graduated in Constitutional Law and Political Science from the Center for Constitutional Studies. In 1995, he obtained a place in the Higher Corps of Civil Administrators of the State, being always linked to the environmental field.

As a teacher, she was a professor in the Department of Public Law and Philosophy of Law at the Autonomous University of Madrid. From 2005, she became known as the head of the government’s climate policy, when she was appointed director of the Spanish Office for Climate Change and, In 2008, she was appointed Secretary of State for Climate Change until 2011.. Later, he moved to Paris to direct the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations.

She returned to active politics in June 2018, when the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, chose her as Minister of Ecological Transition.. In 2020, she was elevated to the rank of Fourth Vice-President of the Government and was given powers over Spain’s demographic challenges. In 2021, she was appointed Third Vice-President of the Government. In addition, she became the PSOE candidate for the 2024 European elections and he gave up the record he had achieved.

Family, hiking and music

Little is known about the private life of the new Competition Commissioner. Ribera has always been very jealous of her private life, but this has been made public her marriage to the Argentinian Mariano Bacigalupoadvisor to the National Securities Market Commission and former lawyer of Leo Messi in his conflicts with the tax administration.

At 55 years old, She is the mother of three daughters and the eldest of five sisters, so she has always been used to living in large family homes.. She was raised by her mother, Teresa Rodríguez, an expert in Krausism and the Free Education Institution, and by her father, José Manuel Ribera, who is part of the Royal Academy of Medicine and is considered one of the promoters of modern geriatrics. Spain. It was precisely they who encouraged her to follow the path of politics, law and teaching.

How could it be otherwise for a woman so committed to the environment, One of Ribera’s favorite projects is organizing walks through the mountains from Guadarrama at any time of the year or via Doñana if it is in spring. In addition, likes to travel to disconnectchoosing Menorca as one of his favourite destinations, where he enjoys the Camí de Cavalls and Cala Morell during almost all of his holiday periods.

Among her great weaknesses, there is also music. The new competition commissioner is a lover of 80s rock and if she has to stay in a band, choose “The Secrets” as your favorite. This hobby also accompanies him with his enormous taste for cooking, highlighting his skill in making desserts.

Football reader and fan

In addition to hiking, music and cooking, Ribera also boasts of reading as one of his greatest hobbies. In an interview with The socialistreveals his favorite books, including Completely Fridayby Luis Garcia Montero, kisses on the bread And Frankenstein’s motherboth from Almudena Grandes.

She found her favorite author in Madrid, “not only because she was a great writer, an example of feminism and social commitment, but because he was also from Atleti, like me“, he confessed to the same media. And with this, it becomes clear what another of his hobbies is: football.

A follower of the king of sport, she declares herself a mattress fan (as the rojiblancos are called), joining the long list of public figures who support the Madrid club, including Ana Rosa Quintana, Alaska, Gonzalo Miró and Vicky Martín Berrocal.