Yolanda Merelo Palomares

Yolanda Merelo Palomares is a Spanish politician who is a member of the Assembly of Ceuta and a designated Senator for the Vox party.

Yolanda Merelo Palomares
Spanish Senator
designated by the Assembly of Ceuta
Assumed office
19 December 2019
Member of the Assembly of Ceuta
Assumed office
26 May 2019
Personal details
BornMadrid, Spain
Political partyVox

Palomares was born in Madrid and trained as a nurse before entering politics.[1] She worked for the Red Cross before moving to Ceuta in 2009 to take up a position at the Ceuta University Hospital. She was elected as a member of the Assembly of Ceuta in 2019.[2] In December 2019, she was designated to sit as a Senator by her party after Vox's original Senator Juan Ros Alcaide did not take his seat.[1][3]

In the Senate, she has called for tougher measures against migrants entering Ceuta from Morocco. In 2022 Senate debate, she accused the Moroccan government of an "attempt to conquer" Ceuta and Melilla by pushing migrants into the autonomous cities. During the same debate, she re-tabled a motion which had previously been proposed by Vox which called on NATO to expand its Article 6 to include the protection of Ceuta and Melilla. The motion was rejected by all other parties in the Senate apart from the People's Party who supported a modified version.[4] In 2021, she was investigated alongside Vox's leader in Ceuta Juan Sergio Redondo over leaked WhatsApp messages which were accused of containing racist content. However, a court investigation dismissed the claims.[5][6]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Yolanda Merelo: la quinta mujer en el Senado y la primera que no es electa" [Yolanda Merelo: the fifth woman in the Senate and the first who is not elected] (in Spanish). 21 February 2020. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  2. ^ "Yolanda Merelo (Ceuta)". Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  3. ^ "MERELO PALOMARES, YOLANDA". Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  4. ^ "The Senate rejects a Vox motion for the NATO Treaty to expressly include the protection of Ceuta and Melilla". Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  5. ^ "erelo, substitute for Ros: the nurse of the "Spanish first" and whatsapps". 20 February 2020. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  6. ^ "The Open Case Dismissed for alleged racist WhatsApp messages". Retrieved 2022-05-03.