A MIXED online and in-person awards ceremony for the 'Top 100 Women Leaders in Spain' saw everyone from Paralympic sporting greats to national politicians, artists and writers through to chief executive officers, collect trophies or find out they were due to receive one in the post.
Some of the names on the list are already fairly well known to the public, such as virologist Margarita del Val, karate champion Sandra Sánchez, TV celebrity chef Samantha Vallejo Nágera, authors and columnists Elvira Lindo and Almudena Grandes, digital director of Mercadona supermarkets Juana Roig – daughter of the chain's founder Juan Roig – deputy president of the government and minister of work and social economy Yolanda Díaz Pérez, Madrid regional president (at least until the elections on May 4) Isabel Díaz Ayuso, deputy president of the government and economy minister Nadia Calviño Santamaría, European Parliamentary office director for Spain, María Andrés Marín, Guardia Civil Lieutenant Colonel Silvia Gil Cerdá, and Guardia Civil Captain María José Garrido Antón.
The ceremony was led by 'channel five', or Telecinco presenter Sonsoles Ónega, who was one of the 10 in the 'Media' category, along with director of newspaper 20minutos, Encarna Samitier Laín, general manager for ABC, Ana Delgado Galán, general manager of Zinet Media Global Marta Ariño Barrera, joint director of newspaper El Diario Esther Palomera, general manager of the website Maldita, Clara Jiménez Cruz, director of the site MujerEmprendedora ('Enterprising Woman'), Ana María Conte, founder of La Gata de Schrödinger, Rocío Vidal, and two other journalists who work for various media, Esther Paniagua and Olga Viza.
Along with the women in politics and the Guardia Civil, the 'Public, Institutional and Political Function' category included Clara Arpa Azofra, chairwoman of the Red Española Pacto Mundial ('World Pact Spanish Network'), Cristina Bescós, managing director of EIT Health, director of the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) Paz Esteban, and head of commerce and port operations at A Coruña Port Authority, Irene Souto Blázquez.
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