Paz Esteban López
Director of the National Intelligence Centre
In office
February 5, 2020 – May 11, 2022
Acting: July 6, 2019 – February 5, 2020
MonarchFelipe VI
PresidentPedro Sánchez
Preceded byFélix Sanz Roldán
Succeeded byEsperanza Casteleiro
Secretary-General of the National Intelligence Center
In office
June 13, 2017 – February 5, 2020
DirectorFélix Sanz Roldán
Preceded byBeatriz Méndez de Vigo
Succeeded byArturo Relanzón Sánchez-Gabriel
Personal details
Born1958
Madrid, Spain
EducationAutonomous University of Madrid

Paz Esteban López (born 1958) is a Spanish intelligence officer. She served as Director of the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) from 2020 to 2022. She was the first woman to hold the post[1] and was previously the Secretary-General of the agency from 2017 to 2019, under Félix Sanz Roldán.

Early life

Esteban was born in Madrid in 1958.[2] She studied at the Autonomous University of Madrid, where she graduated in May 1978 with a degree of Philosophy and Literature.[3] She is an expert in ancient and medieval history.[4] After graduating, Esteban began to prepare the public exam for archives and libraries civil servants. However, a relative of his father offered her to work in a "Ministry", which ended up being the Spanish intelligence service.[5]

Early career

She joined the Superior Centre for Defense Information (CESID) in 1983 when General Emilio Alonso Manglano was director. Esteban specialized in foreign intelligence, although she has never worked as a field agent. Her first jobs within the intelligence service were the preparation of reports on the permanence of Spain in NATO, before the 1986 referendum.[3] She also elaborated, as an analyst, reports relating the 11-S and 11-M terrorist attacks.[4]

Until 2004 she held positions focused on foreign intelligence and, as of this year, she was promoted to managing posts.[6] In 2010, CNI Director Sanz Roldán appointed her as his chief of staff, a position she held until June 2017, when she was appointed Secretary-General of the intelligence agency (second-in-command) after the resignation of Beatriz Méndez de Vigo.[6][7]

Secretary-General of the CNI

In June 2017, CNI secretary-general Beatriz Méndez de Vigo announced her resignation[8] and, despite the efforts of the Deputy Prime Minister, Sáenz de Santamaría, to convince her otherwise,[9] her resignation was effective on June 13, 2017.

On June 9, 2017, the Council of Ministers nominated Esteban as secretary-general.[10] The Monarch effectively appointed her on June 13, 2017.[6][7]

In July 2019, the second five-years-term of the director of the CNI, Sanz Roldán, ended.[11] At that time, the Spanish government (Sánchez I Government) was a caretaker government due to the April 2019 general election. The impossibility of forming a government provoked that the Prime Minister could not renew the director for a new term or to nominate a new candidate.[12]

Due to this situation, Esteban, who was the Secretary-General of the CNI and, therefore, the agency's second authority, assumed the direction ad interim of the intelligence service, being the first woman to hold the post.[13]

Director of the CNI

On January 31, 2020, the Office of the Prime Minister announced that, Esteban, who since July 2019 was acting director of the agency, would be confirmed as the new CNI Director and as the CCN Director.[14] Esteban was officially appointed on February 5, 2020.[15] She was sworn in on February 10, 2020.[16]

On February 19 the central government appointed Arturo Relanzón Sánchez-Gabriel as the new secretary-general of the agency, being the first man to hold the position.[17][18]

On May 10, 2022, Esteban was dismissed as director of the CNI by the Spanish government following revelations that several national and regional politicians had been the target of phone tapping using the controversial Pegasus spyware.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Villarejo, Esteban (July 5, 2019). "Paz Esteban, primera mujer al frente del CNI (aunque sea de modo interino)". Por Tierra, Mar y Aire (in Spanish). ABC Blogs. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Sánchez confirma a Paz Esteban como la primera mujer al frente del CNI". El Español (in European Spanish). January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Algarra, Bosco Martín (June 11, 2017). "Paz Esteban López, la filósofa y veterana espía convertida en la número 2 del CNI". Vozpópuli (in European Spanish). Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Paz Esteban: la jefa de los espías españoles es madrileña, tiene 61 años y cree que las mujeres mandan mejor". Vanity Fair España (in Spanish). February 3, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Experta en inteligencia". El Correo Gallego (in Spanish). Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 "El Gobierno nombra a Paz Esteban número dos del CNI". Noticias Infodefensa España (in Spanish). June 14, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  7. 1 2 "Real Decreto 592/2017, de 12 de junio, por el que se nombra Secretaria General del Centro Nacional de Inteligencia a doña Paz Esteban López" [Royal Decree 592/2017, of June 12, appointing Mrs. Paz Esteban López Secretary-General of the National Intelligence Centre]. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). June 13, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Beatriz Méndez de Vigo: La nº 2 del CNI deja la Secretaría General por la Embajada de Pekín". Okdiario (in Spanish). June 7, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría trató de retener a Méndez de Vigo como Nº 2 del CNI". Confidencial Digital (in Spanish). June 15, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Referencia del Consejo de Ministros". La Moncloa (in Spanish). June 9, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  11. ↑ Águeda, Pedro. "Sanz Roldán, "el astuto": adiós a la década de poder en la sombra del jefe del CNI". eldiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Sanz Roldán, el jefe del CNI que se ganó la confianza de tres presidentes, deja el cargo". Público (in Spanish). Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  13. ↑ Rodríguez, Antonio (July 5, 2019). "Paz Esteban rompe el último techo de cristal que quedaba en el CNI". Vozpópuli (in European Spanish). Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  14. ↑ Cué, Carlos E.; González, Miguel (January 31, 2020). "El Gobierno confirma a Paz Esteban como la primera mujer directora del CNI". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Real Decreto 266/2020, 4 de febrero, por el que se nombra Secretaria de Estado Directora del Centro Nacional de Inteligencia a doña Paz Esteban López" [Royal Decree 266/2020, of February 4, appointing Mrs. Paz Esteban López Secretary of State Director of the National Intelligence Centre]. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). February 5, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Paz Esteban toma posesión como directora del CNI". ABC (in Spanish). February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  17. ↑ Cancio, Fernando (February 18, 2020). "Un ex "paraca", nuevo "número dos" del CNI". La Razón (in Spanish). Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Real Decreto 384/2020, de 18 de febrero, por el que se nombra Secretario General del Centro Nacional de Inteligencia a don Arturo Relanzón Sánchez-Gabriel" [Royal Decree 384/2020, of February 18, by which Mr. Arturo Relanzón Sánchez-Gabriel is appointed Secretary-General of the National Intelligence Center]. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). February 19, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Spain's spy chief sacked after Pegasus spyware revelations". The Guardian. May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
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