Spain's Constitutional Court to be chaired by a woman.

For the first time in Spanish judicial history a woman has been chosen to preside the Spanish Constitutional Tribunal, Spain's most important judicial tribunal. Her main rival, Guillermo Jiménez, lost by 3 votes (the final vote was 7-4), and decided not to contest the vice-presidency.

The Constitutional Tribunal prior to the vote was divided into two groups. The progressive sector supporting Maria Emilia Casas Baamonde and the more conservative judges who supported Guillermo Jiménez.

More and more women are occupying key positions in the Spanish political, legal and social structure. For the first time a woman occupies the vice-presidency of the Spanish Government, half of the Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's executive are women, and a woman was recently appointed new director of Radio and Television Española.