Isabel Ambrosio

María Isabel Ambrosio Palos (born 18 July 1970)[1] is a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) politician who was the mayor of Córdoba from 2015 to 2019.

Biography

Born in Madrid and raised in Córdoba, Ambrosio began working at the age of 10 when her father died, as she was the eldest of four siblings. She graduated from the Workers' University of Córdoba, and joined the PSOE's youth organisation in 1991.[2] She was in the Parliament of Andalusia from 2004 to 2008, when she resigned to become the government's delegate in Córdoba.[2]

In October 2014, Ambrosio was chosen as the PSOE's mayoral candidate in Córdoba for the next year's elections.[3] The following June, she was elected to the city council and installed as mayor with an absolute majority of 15 seats: seven from her party, four from coalition partners United Left and four from opposition party Ganemos Córdoba.[4] Her first act as mayor was to leave roses at the tomb of Manuel Sánchez-Badajoz, the socialist former mayor of the city who was executed in 1936 at the start of the Spanish Civil War.[5]

As mayor, Ambrosio proposed that the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, a building of which most of its architecture is of a mosque but has been used exclusively as a cathedral since 1236, be made public property. She cited the example of the Alhambra palace in nearby Granada for the financial benefits to the city.[6] Ambrosio brought together a committee of legal and historical experts who concluded that the building was never relinquished by the Spanish crown, and therefore the state.[7] Opponents pointed to the presence of PSOE politician Carmen Calvo in the committee, and accused the party of anticlericalism.[8] Ambrosio's conservative successor, José María Bellido, shut down the commission and sought to repair relations with the church.[9]

Citing the Law of Historical Memory, Ambrosio renamed two main streets in Córdoba that bore names of figures from the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, one of whom also served under Francisco Franco. These names were reverted by Bellido.[10]

References
  1. "Isabel Ambrosio : La tercera delegada del Gobierno de la Junta" [Isabel Ambrosio: The third delegate of the regional government]. Diario de Córdoba (in Spanish). 22 June 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  2. Rodríguez, José Luis (17 May 2015). "Isabel Ambrosio : La niña que se hizo mayor por exigencias del guión" [Isabel Ambrosio: The girl who became older by script requirements]. Diario de Córdoba (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  3. "Isabel Ambrosio, única candidata a la Alcaldía" [Isabel Ambrosio, only candidate for mayor]. ABC (in Spanish). 7 October 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  4. "Isabel Ambrosio (PSOE), elegida alcaldesa de Córdoba" [Isabel Ambrosio (PSOE), elected mayor of Córdoba]. El Diario (in Spanish). 13 June 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  5. "El primer acto de Isabel Ambrosio es llevar rosas a la tumba del anterior alcalde socialista, fusilado en 1936" [Isabel Ambrosio's first act is the take roses to the tomb of the socialist former mayor, shot by firing squad in 1936]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 13 June 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  6. León, José Manuel (7 November 2018). "Ambrosio pone a la Alhambra de ejemplo de gestión compartida para la Mezquita" [Ambrosio brings up the Alhambra as an example of shared management for the Mezquita] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  7. "Un comité de expertos considera que la Mezquita de Córdoba nunca ha sido propiedad de la Iglesia" [A committee of experts consider that the Mezquita in Córdoba has never been church property] (in Spanish). RTVE. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  8. "Mezquita de Córdoba: ofensiva anticlerical del PSOE" [Mezquita de Córdoba: the PSOE's anticlerical offensive]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 16 September 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  9. "Córdoba no reactivará comisión que cuestionó titularidad de Mezquita-Catedral" [Córdoba will not reactivate commission that questioned ownership of the Mosque-Cathedral]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 17 July 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  10. Camacho, Julia (10 March 2020). "Córdoba recupera dos calles franquistas gracias a un ardid para eludir la ley" [Córdoba recovers two Francoist streets thanks to a scheme to avoid the law]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 February 2021.
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