The Madrid Regional Government, chaired by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has decided on Wednesday to dismiss three new people: Silvia Roldán as Deputy Minister of Digitalisation; Eva María Borrego as Director General of Early Childhood, Primary and Special Education; and Milagros de Pedro Conal as Director of the Territorial Area of Madrid-East. The dismissals were not mentioned by the Government spokesperson, Miguel Ángel García Martín, during the press conference to review the agreements adopted at the meeting, nor were their underlying reasons later clarified by the executive. But two things are certain: just as Roldán’s departure apparently cuts short a career that seemed to be on the rise, as her previous responsibility had been at the head of the Madrid Metro, those of Borrego and De Pedro deepen the instability in which the Ministry of Education is installed.
Since Emilio Viciana was selected as Education Minister by Díaz Ayuso, a year ago, he has dispensed with these two positions, the Deputy Minister of Educational Policy, or the General Director of Research and Technological Innovation, according to public documentation consulted by this newspaper. Added to this are the five dismissals decided upon taking office, in July 2023, which can be explained in the context of the total renewal of the executive decided by the president. According to a source who frequently interacts with Viciana and his senior officials, these changes in the heads of each area are related to the renewal of a team that in several cases had been inherited from the previous minister, Enrique Ossorio, as well as the merger of two deputy ministries.
However, the staff changes are also accompanied by multiple controversies related to the Education portfolio.
Thus, Viciana’s career in the Government has been full of potholes, which has not gone unnoticed by the main advisors of the regional president, who for now has publicly rejected the possibility of opening a government crisis to redesign the line-up of councillors. The list is long: from the halt to bilingualism in History studies, to the backtracking on the project to install an Accredited European School within Ramiro de Maeztu, passing through the chaos in the management of the dining grants last year, which forced the aid to be given to all applicants, whether they met the requirements or not, which caused an extra cost of 17 million euros.
And what about Roldán’s departure? “It responds to the adjustments that are being made in the ministries within the framework of the normal functioning of the departments,” said a government spokesperson about the dismissal of the deputy minister for Digitalisation, who previously served as CEO of Metro de Madrid between 2019 and 2023, and who has now been replaced by Manuel Pérez.
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The area of Digitalisation, which is a personal commitment of the president, has not been free of controversy either. In February, the Government hired a retired general of the Civil Guard who was implicated in the ‘Zabalza case’ for the cybersecurity agency and dismissed it in just a few hours.
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