Yolanda Díaz Facts for Kids

Additional positions


First Deputy Mayor of Ferrol
In office 17 June 2007 – 18 October 2008
National Coordinator of Esquerda Unida
In office 7 November 2005 – 3 June 2017
Preceded by	Pilar Díaz
Succeeded by	Eva Solla
Member of the Ferrol City Council
In office 14 June 2003 – 13 November 2012

Personal details

Born

Yolanda Díaz Pérez

6 May 1971 (age 54)
Fene, Spain

Political party

- Communist Party of Spain (1986–present)
- Movimiento Sumar (2023–present)

Other political
affiliations

United Left (1986–2019)

Spouse

Juan Andrés Meizoso

(m. 2004)

Children

Alma mater

University of Santiago de Compostela

Occupation

Labour lawyer
politician

Signature

Yolanda Díaz Pérez (born 6 May 1971) is a Spanish politician and a lawyer who specializes in helping workers. She is currently the Second Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and the Minister of Labour and Social Economy for the Spanish government. She has been a member of the Communist Party of Spain for a long time. In 2023, she started a political group called Sumar. She was the leader of this group until 2024. She has also been a member of the Spanish parliament, called the Congress of Deputies, since 2016. Before that, she worked in local and regional politics.

Early Life and Education
Political Journey
Political Views
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and Education

Yolanda Díaz was born on 6 May 1971, in a town called Fene, in Spain. Her family in Galicia was known for being involved in trade unions. They worked hard to fight for fairness during a difficult time in Spain's history.

Díaz studied Law at the University of Santiago de Compostela. After finishing her studies, she worked as a legal assistant. Later, she became a lawyer and opened her own law firm. Her firm focused on labour law, which deals with the rights of workers.

Political Journey

Starting in Regional Politics

Yolanda Díaz joined the Communist Party of Spain when she was young. She began her official political career in 2003. That year, she became a member of the city council in Ferrol.

In 2005, she was chosen to lead a political group called Esquerda Unida (EU). This group was part of a larger national party called United Left.

In 2012, Díaz ran for election in Galicia as part of a group called Galician Left Alternative. She won a seat in the regional parliament, the Parliament of Galicia. She represented the area of A Coruña.

Moving to National Politics

Díaz became a member of the national parliament, the Congress of Deputies, in 2016. She kept her seat in elections held in 2016 and twice in 2019. She ran with different political groups during these elections. In June 2017, she stepped down as the leader of Esquerda Unida.

In 2019, she supported forming a government with the PSOE party. She believed it was important to agree on a plan for the country. She later left the United Left party in October 2019, but she remained a member of the Communist Party of Spain.

Becoming Minister of Labour

On 13 January 2020, Yolanda Díaz became the Minister of Labour and Social Economy. Her main goal was to fight against "precarious work." This means work that is unstable, low-paying, or has poor conditions. She promised to change a labor law from 2012.

As Minister of Labour, Díaz helped increase the minimum wage to 950 euros per month. She also helped make it illegal to fire employees just because they were on medical leave. She sent inspectors to farms to check on working conditions for rural workers.

When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, Díaz worked with unions and businesses. They created a plan to help workers keep their jobs during the pandemic. This plan was called "ERTE." She also helped create a law for working from home.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Yolanda Díaz signing an agreement.

In March 2021, she was promoted to Third Deputy Prime Minister of Spain. Then, in July 2021, she became the Second Deputy Prime Minister of Spain.

In November 2021, Díaz announced her plan to create a new political group. This group would run in the next Spanish general elections. She called this process a "listening process." Also in November 2021, she said that by the end of 2022, old labor laws would be changed. These changes were approved in February 2022.

In May 2022, Díaz officially announced her new political group, Sumar ("Unite"). The goal was for this group to run in the 2023 Spanish general election. It was also registered as a political party.

Díaz with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in July 2023

In November 2023, she continued in her government roles in the new government led by Pedro Sánchez.

Stepping Down as Sumar's Leader

The Sumar political group took part in regional elections in early 2024. The results were not very good. Yolanda Díaz still wanted to run in the European elections in June 2024. In these elections, Sumar won 3 out of 61 seats. Many members of the group were unhappy with these results.

Because of this, on 10 June 2024, Yolanda Díaz announced that she was leaving her leadership roles in Sumar. However, she remained the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour.

Political Views

Yolanda Díaz is still a member of the Communist Party of Spain. She focuses on appealing to a wide range of left-wing voters. She has spoken positively about The Communist Manifesto, a famous book about political ideas. She believes it still offers important ideas about democracy and freedom.

Díaz at the 2024 Madrid Pride Parade

Díaz has said she wants to move away from politics where only two main parties are in charge. She describes herself as an atheist. However, she has said that meeting Pope Francis was very important to her. She believes they have a lot in common, especially in their views on uncontrolled capitalism.

In 2023, Díaz defended the government's social achievements. She said that they had been able to "deconstruct the myths of capitalism." She pointed to things like measures to prevent unemployment and a reduction in the difference in pay between men and women.

Díaz does not support holding an independence vote in Catalonia. She believes that talking and finding peaceful solutions are the only way forward. She thinks Catalonia should remain part of Spain.

She wants to reduce the working week from 40 hours to 37.5 hours. She believes this should happen without workers losing any pay. She also suggested a big discussion about making working hours more reasonable. This is because Spanish workers often finish their day later than workers in other European countries. Some political parties did not agree with this plan.

In October 2023, Díaz asked the international community to pressure Israel. She wanted them to stop what she called a massacre in Gaza. In May 2024, after Spain decided to recognize Palestine as an independent state, Díaz said that more action was needed to ensure peace and justice for Palestine.

Images for kids

Yolanda Díaz's signature

Yolanda Díaz facts for kids

Contents