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Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo is one of the most controversial and brilliant Spanish politicians, journalists and intellectuals of her generation.
Born in Madrid in 1974, Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo has stood out for her vibrant defense of liberal democracy in the face of her enemies: populism, nationalism, separatism, and identity politics.
Disciple of the eminent British Hispanist Sir John H. Elliott, she has a BA and a PhD (D.Phil.) from the University of Oxford, which granted her multiple recognitions and where she published her thesis on Spain and America in the seventeenth century, later translated to Spanish. As a journalist, she has stood out for her intelligent political analyzes, her incisive interviews with great political and intellectual figures of our time (Steven Pinker, Jordan Peterson, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Álvaro Uribe, Juan Manuel Santos …) and his chronicles from the most difficult terrain, such as Venezuela, with whose freedom she has shown an iron and active commitment.
But it is in politics where the figure of Cayetana has caused the greatest impact. Her vigorous leadership in the face of populism and nationalism, her audacious denunciation of the evils of contemporary politics, her brilliant defence of the modern values of Enlightenment, and her commitment to democratic regeneration have earned her a following beyond her party and her country.
An extraordinary speaker, her parliamentary speeches have gone viral in Spain and Latin America. A firm defender of the need to fight the cultural battle, Cayetana has proclaimed herself an “Amazon feminist” and has raised her voice against all forms of collectivization and victimhood under the banner of identity, which has made her a benchmark for many other women.
Cayetana is also a fireproof democratic activist. In 2014, together with Mario Vargas Llosa and other intellectuals, she founded the civil association Libres e Iguales to defend the Spanish constitutional order.
The platform contributed decisively to a massive social mobilisation against the Catalan separatist process and continues as an example of the power of intelligence at the service of democracy.
Convinced of the responsibility of the elites and of the full validity of the values of the Enlightenment, Cayetana is now working for the construction of a “New Political Space of Reason” that overcomes expired ideological categories and brings together democrats from both hemispheres.
Cayetana has received numerous recognitions, including the Gibbs Prize for History from the University of Oxford, proxime accesit, the Silver Microphone from the Spanish Association of Press, Radio and Television Journalists, and the Civil Society Prize for Civics.
Cayetana lives in Madrid and has two daughters.
