El Pais appoints first female editor

MADRID: Staff at Spain’s influential El Pais newspaper have backed the appointment of its first woman editor, the daily’s owner said on Friday, a day after a new Spanish government was sworn in with women holding the majority of ministerial posts.

El Pais’ board proposed award-winning journalist Soledad Gallego-Diaz for the post and her nomination was backed late on Thursday by just over 97 percent of the nearly 300 staff members, a spokeswoman for Spanish media firm Prisa, which owns the daily, told AFP.

Her nomination still needs to be formally approved by the board of directors of El Pais, the biggest Spanish-language publication in the world and an institution both in Spain and Latin America.

Soledad Gallego-Diaz, 67, joined El Pais shortly after its founding in 1976 and has served as correspondent in Brussels, London, Paris, Buenos Aires and New York. She has also served as deputy editor and ombudsman.

Spain’s King Felipe VI on Thursday swore in a new Socialist government which has the most women of any executive since Spain returned to democracy and a bigger proportion of women than any other country in Europe.

Of 17 ministers, 11 are women and their portfolios include the key economy, defence, finance, justice, labour, education and health ministries. Gallego-Diaz will replace Antonio Cano, who occupied the post since 2014.

During his editorship, centre-left El Pais was highly critical of Pedro Sanchez, who became leader of the Socialist party that year and was sworn in as prime minister on Saturday. The New York Times, one of the most influential and widely read news organisations in the world, appointed its first female editor in 2011.