VZCZCXRO6991
PP RUEHLA
DE RUEHMD #1342 1901607
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091607Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2961
INFO RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 2894

UNCLAS MADRID 001342 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN: ZAPATERO RESHUFFLES DOMESTIC POLICY CABINET 
POSTS 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY. With an eye on issues that will be important 
to voters in upcoming national elections, President Zapatero 
announced on July 6 four changes to his cabinet. 
Parliamentary Vice President Carme Chacon will become the new 
Housing Minister. Elena Salgado, until now Minister of 
Health, will become the Minister of Public Administration. 
Zapatero also named Cesar Antonio Molina, current director of 
the Cervantes Institute, as the new Minister of Culture 
(replacing Carmen Calvo), and Bernat Soria, a renowned 
scientist and expert on stem cell research, as his new 
Minister of Health. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) Although the changes do not affect vital Ministries, 
they likely were made with an eye toward elections next year. 
 Zapatero focused on strengthening Ministries that deal with 
social and cultural values -- two main issues for his 
political base. Carme Chacon has become the "face" of the 
Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC) in Madrid after Jose 
Montilla's departure as Minister of Industry to preside the 
over the Catalonian government.  Chacon's popularity in 
Catalonia is expected to be an asset for the governing 
Socialist Party (PSOE) in the 2008 elections.  Jordi Sevilla, 
the departing Minister of Public Administration, will very 
likely return to his home province of Valencia in order to 
reinvigorate the PSOE there.  Valencia is currently an 
opposition Popular Party (PP) stronghold.  The PSOE's most 
recent candidate in Valencia was not successful in regional 
elections, and Sevilla's strong image in the region as a 
"pure blooded" politician should strengthen the party's 
prospects there.  The appointment of respected scientist 
Bernat Soria, who is known for his work on stem cell 
research, also provides the Zapatero government a high 
profile on an issue he calculates is a net electoral asset 
for the PSOE. 
 
¶3. (U) This is the fourth time Zapatero has shuffled his 
cabinet.  Past changes have been more substantial, including 
the April 2006 departure of Defense Minister Jose Bono.  Also 
in that move, Jose Antonio Alonso went to Defense, Alfredo 
Perez Rubalcaba took over Interior, and Mercedes Cabrera 
became head of Education. 
 
-- BIO NOTES -- 
 
¶4. (U) Carme Chacon.  The Housing Minister, born in Barcelona 
in 1971, holds a doctorate in law, was a law professor, and 
is considered an expert in federalism.  She was an OSCE 
election observer in Bosnia in 1996 and Albania in 1997. 
Chacon was elected to the Congress in 2000, and was elected 
First Vice President of the Congress in 2004.  She is close 
to the leadership of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC).  She 
is married to Miguel Barroso, a Zapatero confidant and former 
Secretary of Communications who currently directs Casa de 
 
SIPDIS 
America. 
 
¶5. (U) Elena Salgado.  Salgado was made Minister of Public 
Administration as a reward for her strong management of the 
Health Ministry.  As Health Minister, she was known for her 
crusades against smoking, unhealthy fast food, and alcohol 
abuse.  She maintains good relations with key ministers 
including Vice Presidents Fernandez de la Vega and Solbes, 
Interior Minister Rubalcaba, and Defense Minister Alonso. She 
was Spain's unsuccessful candidate for the World Health 
Organization in 2006.  Outside government, much of her 
professional life has been in the telecommunications sector 
and she is a former board member of Telefonica, Hispasat, 
Retevision, and Correos.  Salgado, born in 1949, has degrees 
in industrial engineering and economics. 
 
¶6. (U) Bernat Soria.  One of the world's leading experts on 
stem cells, the new Health Minister, born in 1951, was 
previously the coordinator for the European Embryonic Stem 
Cell Network, professor of physiology at Pablo de Olvide 
University in Alicante, and director of the Andalucian Center 
of Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Sevilla. 
During the period of 2001-2005, Soria conducted his research 
in Singapore after the Ministry of Health opened a case 
against him for conducting research on stem cells acquired in 
the U.S.  Dr. Soria has an MD from the University of Valencia. 
 
¶7. (U) Cesar Antonio Molina.  The Culture Minister was 
previously a professor of literature at Madrid's Complutense 
University and of journalism at Carlos III University. 
Molina, born in 1952, was director of the Circulo de Bellas 
Artes cultural center from 1996-2004, and since then has been 
director of the Cervantes Institute, which promotes Spanish 
language and literature around the world.  He is a writer who 
has published some 30 books and frequently contributes 
newspaper columns. 
AGUIRRE