Spain's re-elected Prime Minister José Luís Zapatero recently named his new 17-member cabinet, of whom 9 are female.  The cabinet member getting the most attention and causing the most controversy, both domestic and international, is 37-year old Defense Minister Carme Chacón, who is 7 months pregnant.  Hailing from Catalunya, Ms. Chacón, who was head of the Housing Ministry during P.M. Zapatero's first term, is credited with garnering support from her powerful region during last month's election.

P.M. Zapatero also created two new ministries: the Equality Ministry, headed by 31-year old Andalusian Bibiana Aido, Spain's youngest Cabinet member ever; and the Science and Innovation Ministry, headed by Basque molecular biologist Cristina Garmendia.  Is Spain closing the gender gap?  

Yale Law Library has an impressive collection of Spanish legal materials: historical and current, monographs and serials, print and electronic.  The Spanish collection of monographs resides with the rest of our foreign law on the Lower East Side, LC Call No. KKT, and in the Rare Book Room, where you can examine Las Siete Partidas from 1550, for example.  In addition to monographs, you will also find legislation and jurisprudence, such as Repertorio de Jurisprudencia.  There are also several serial publications on the Upper East Side, such as Revista Española de Derecho Constitucional and Revista Española de Derecho Internacional.  The library also subscribes to vLex, a Spanish database of laws, jurisprudence, and legal literature (IP access).  For more electronic resources related to Spanish law, see Spain in our Country-by-Country Guide to foreign legal research, part of our larger Foreign and International Law Resources webpage.   You'll find links to other sources, as well, such as La Constitución Española de 1812.

Photo and caption from The Independent article: 

JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images

The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero poses on the steps of the Moncloa palace in Madrid with his female cabinet ministers (left to right) Science and Innovation minister Cristina Garmendia, Transport and Development minister Magdalena Alvarez, Education, Social Affairs and Sports minister Mercedes Cabrera Calvo, Defence minister Carme Chacon, deputy prime minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, Public Administration minister Elena Salgado, Equality minister Bibiana Aido, Housing minister Beatriz Corredor and Agriculture and Environment minister Elena Espinosa