Carolina Darias


Carolina Darias San Sebastián is a Spanish politician and civil servant of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. Since January 2020, she is the minister of Territorial Policy and Civil Service under Pedro Sánchez.
As member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, in July 2019 Canarian President Ángel Víctor Torres appointed her as regional minister of Economy, Knowledge and Employment in the government of the Canary Islands. She also served as President of the Parliament of the Canary Islands from June 2015 to June 2019.

Early life

Born in Las Palmas on 25 November 1965, San Sebastián received her law degree from the University of La Laguna.

Career

A politician from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, San Sebastián was a member of the city council of Las Palmas from 1999 to 2004. She served as a government sub-delegate and was elected to the Parliament of the Canary Islands from Las Palmas in 2007. However, she left the position the following year after her appointment as the director of Territory, Town Planning and Housing in the Las Palmas city council.
In October 2014, San Sebastián contested the PSOE primary for the post of President of the Canary Islands but lost to Patricia Hernández Gutiérrez. After the results of 2015 Canarian regional election were announced PSOE agreed to form a coalition with Canarian Coalition and she was chosen Speaker of the Parliament of the Canary Islands even though PSOE had won lesser seats than Canarian Coalition. She is the first woman to hold the position.

Personal life

On 12 March 2020, it was reported that Darias had been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused coronavirus 2020 pandemic. She was the second member of the Spanish government to be infected by the virus, after it was reported that Minister of Equality Irene Montero had tested positive for the virus earlier the same day.