Queen Letizia hires State Attorney María Dolores Ocaña as her right-hand woman: the first woman in this position

Changes in the structure of Zarzuela. Queen Letizia has hired the State lawyer María Dolores Ocaña, who will replace José Manuel Zuleta, right hand of Felipe VI’s wife until now. It will be next April 30 when she takes office, according to El País and Efe. She is the first woman to hold this position.

Ocaña, before joining the Ministry of Education, headed by Pilar Alegría, was Undersecretary of Agriculture in the first Government of Pedro Sánchez. She was appointed by Luis Planas in 2018. Her expertise in training and education is a subject that he shares with the Queen, whose work agenda is focused on this field, on childhood and youth.

This change in Zarzuela’s organizational chart is in addition to the replacement of the head of the Royal House. In January he announced that Jaime Alfonsin67 years old, was retiring and handed over the baton to his successor in office, Camilo Villarino, 59 years old. The dismissal of the outgoing head of the House and the appointment of the incoming one was published on February 19 in the Official State Gazette.

Alfonsín had been in the service of the then Prince of Asturias for almost 30 years and, since 2014, of His Majesty the King. The change of leadership has occurred just this 2024, the year in which the monarch prepares the tenth anniversary of his proclamation, next June.