Irene Montero

Irene María Montero Gil (born 13 February 1988) is a Spanish politician and psychologist, member of the Podemos party. She most recently served as the Minister of Equality of Spain from 13 January 2020 to 20 November 2023. She is the partner of Pablo Iglesias, one of the founders and former leader of her party.

From January 2016 to August 2023, Montero has also been an MP for Madrid in the Congress of Deputies, and from February 2017 to January 2020 she was the Spokesperson for the Parliamentary Group Unidos Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común in Congress.

Early life and education
Irene María Montero Gil was born in the Moratalaz neighborhood of Madrid. She joined the Communist Youth Union of Spain (UJCE) in 2004. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology from the Autonomous University of Madrid, and a master's degree in Educational Psychology. She received a scholarship for Harvard University, but chose to commit herself to politics instead of moving to the United States.

Early beginnings
Montero joined Podemos after the elections to the European Parliament in 2014 together with Rafa Mayoral from the Platform of People Affected by Mortgages (PAH).

In November 2014, after being a candidate for the Citizen Council of Podemos, Montero was appointed head of Social Movements and began to lead the cabinet of the leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, at which time she postponed her doctoral thesis project on new methods of educational inclusion to dedicate herself entirely to Podemos.

Member of Parliament (2016–2023)
Montero was a candidate for Madrid to the Congress of Deputies for Podemos in the elections of 20 December 2015, being elected deputy of the XI and the XII Legislature. Since 18 February 2017 she has held the position of Spokesperson of the United Confederal Group We Can-In Comú Podem-En Marea, being the youngest speaker of democracy.

During the election campaign of 20 December 2015 Iglesias announced that Montero would be the vice president and minister of the Presidency of a hypothetical government of Podemos.

In the elections of the Congress of Vistalegre II to the direction of Podemos was elected member of the State Citizen Council. She was the most voted woman, placing herself in fourth place, behind Pablo Iglesias, Pablo Echenique and Íñigo Errejón. She is currently a member of the Coordination Board of Podemos, secretary of Action in Congress.

As a deputy, in June 2017 Montero became the first woman in the history of Spain to intervene in parliament on a motion of no confidence.

In May 2018, Iglesias and Montero put their positions in Podemos up for a vote of no confidence, following backlash for purchasing a €615,000 country house in Galapagar. A total of 68.42% of party members voted to keep them in their roles.

Minister of Equality (2020–2023)
In January 2020, prime minister Pedro Sánchez appointed Montero as Minister of Equality. During her time in office, she oversaw the government's efforts on a bill to allow anyone over the age of 14 to change gender legally without a medical diagnosis or hormone therapy. She debated the ramifications of the bill with Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo, who opposed it.

In May 2022, Montero announced the implementation of the 028 Rainbow Service, an emergency service for victims of queerphobic hate crimes or discrimination.

In August 2022, Spain passed legislation proposed by Montero since the La Manada rape case, in which consent for sexual intercourse had to be proven by affirmation. The change in the law allowed for convicted sex offenders to have their sentences reduced on appeal by the retroactivity of the law. Montero declared that the right-wing opposition used the retroactivity as a loophole to attack her, and she blamed the reductions on "machismo" of judges; in response to this, she was and dubbed a "liberator of rapists" by Vox congress member Carla Toscano, who criticised the minister's portrayal of judges.

By 1 December, 43 convicted sex offenders had their sentences reduced by up to seven years as a result of the new law. On 14 December, the Supreme Court of Spain upheld the reductions, as accused in Spain who are not at the end of the appeals process have the right to be re-sentenced under a later, more beneficial law. The law was amended in April 2023 by the PSOE and opposition PP, which Montero considered "a sad day" and the most difficult of her tenure as a minister. In September 2023, the court of Navarra reduced the sentence of one of the members of "la Manada" from 15 years to 14 years by applying the "solo sí es sí" law.

Member of the European Parliament (2024–present)
Montero run for Member of the European Parliament in the european elections held on June 2024, as head of list for Podemos. Following her election she was appointed Vice-president of The Left in the European Parliament. In July 2024 the Left group presented her as candidate to the Presidency of the European Parliament.

Personal life
On 3 July 2018, Montero gave birth to twins, Leo and Manuel, in her relationship with Pablo Iglesias, the leader of her party. Due to their premature birth, the newborn children were kept in the intensive care at a public hospital of Madrid. On 4 August 2019, she gave birth to their third child, Aitana.

Civil case
On June 6, 2023, in a civil case, the Supreme Court ruled that Monero had falsely accused María Sevilla's ex-husband of abuse without evidence. The court ordered Monetero to pay €18,000 in compensation to the plaintiff, delete a tweet in which she shared a video of the opening ceremony of the Women's Institute where she made the statements for which she was convicted, and post the judgment on Twitter. She was given 3 months to fulfil the judgment. The court imposed her an additional €5,400 fine since Montero had not complied with the order within the 3 months. In September, Montero appealed to a higher court, on the grounds that the judgment would erode her credibility and violate her free speech. The Constitutional Court of Spain rejected her appeal, ruling that her free speech did not protect her, and that the appeal was out of time. In November of 2023, Montero complied with the ruling.