Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo
One of the Most Relevant Politicians, Journalists & Intellectuals in Ibero-America
Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo
One of the Most Relevant Politicians, Journalists & Intellectuals in Ibero-America
Biography
Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo is one of the most brilliant Spanish politicians, journalists and intellectuals of her generation. Born in Madrid in 1974, in all its facets she has stood out for her vibrant defence of liberal democracy against its enemies: populism, nationalism, separatism and identity politics.
A disciple of the eminent British Hispanist Sir John H. Elliott, she has a B.A. and a Ph.D. (D.Phil) from the University of Oxford, which awarded her multiple awards and where she published her thesis on Spain and America in the seventeenth century, later translated into Spanish.
As a journalist, he has stood out for his intelligent political analysis, his 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 terrains, such as Venezuela, to whose freedom he has shown a strong and active commitment.
But it is in politics where the figure of Cayetana has caused the greatest impact. Currently, she is a deputy for Madrid, deputy spokesperson of the Popular Parliamentary Group in Congress and spokesperson for the Constitutional Commission. In addition, he is a spokesperson for Libres e Iguales, a civic association for the defense of democracy and constitutional values.
She began her legislative career, being a deputy first for Madrid (two legislatures), followed by one for Barcelona.
His vigorous leadership in the face of populism and nationalism, his bold denunciation of the evils of contemporary politics, his brilliant defense of the modern values of the Enlightenment and his commitment to democratic regeneration have won him followers beyond his party and his country. An extraordinary orator, her parliamentary interventions and 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 "Amazonian feminist" and has raised her voice against all forms of collectivization and victimhood under the banner of identity, which has made her a reference for many other women.
Cayetana is also an incombustible democratic activist. In 2014, together with Mario Vargas Llosa and other intellectuals, he founded the civic association Libres e Iguales (Free and Equal) to defend the Spanish constitutional order. The platform contributed decisively to a massive social mobilization against the Catalan separatist process and endures as an example of the power of intelligence at the service of democracy.
Convinced of the responsibility of the elites and 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 outdated ideological categories and brings together democrats from both hemispheres.
Cayetana has received numerous awards, including the Gibbs Prize in History from the University of Oxford, proxime second-prize, the Silver Microphone of the Spanish Association of Press, Radio and Television Journalists, and the Civil Society Award, for Civics.
Cayetana lives in Madrid and has two daughters.
Speech Topics
A Conversation with Cayetana Alvarez de Toledo
Cayetana tailors each presentation to the needs of her audience and is not limited to the topics we have listed below. These are topics that have proven valuable to clients in the past and are meant only to suggest the speaker's range and interests:
- Populism & Democracy
- Post-truth
- Crisis in the Parties
- Latin America
- Spain
)
)
)
)