The cabinet of Mariano Rajoy has undergone a bit of a
reshuffle and it’s seen the quiet removal of one of the biggest thorns in the
side of Gibraltar.
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| Everyone is glad José Manual García-Margallo has been replaced |
García-Margallo spent many years vocalising his belief that
Gibraltar should become Spanish territory and he was always eager to make the
relationship between Spain and Britain a little worse.
Rajoy’s new cabinet isn’t as powerful as his old one and now
he only has a minority conservative grip on the reins of Parliament. As such
Prime Minister Rajoy appears to be taking all the chances he can get to limit
any potential fights with his opponents on the left.
Alfonso Dastis is the man who will replace García-Margallo
as Foreign Minister. Dastis has been a long-standing representative of Spain in
the European Parliament of Brussels and is considered to be sensible and
reasoned.
There was good news for the markets as Luis de Guindos was
kept on as Economic Minister. De Guindos was able to keep the economy as steady
as possible and help it recover during some of the toughest economic times the
country has faced since Franco.
De Guindos spearheaded a mass labour reform as the country
was going through a double-dip recession and has been vital to keeping a low cost of living and the
economic recovery happening. He’s one of the main reasons that it recovered
much faster than anyone could predict.
A parliamentary spokesman for the Popular Party said that
they decided continuity was the right approach for the economic team and that
they would keep the team that saw Spain reverse the economic situation of five
years ago.
There are six new ministers in Rajoy’s new cabinet. The
interior and defence roles have gone to new people alongside the foreign role.
The new Interior Minister is Juan Ignacio Zoido. Zoido is the former mayor of
Seville and he will be replacing Jorge Fernández Diaz, while Maria Dolores de
Cospedal is the new Defence Minister, following her role as the Secretary
General of the PP.
