Following the general elections held in Spain on 23 July, S&D MEP Adriana Maldonado left the European Parliament to take a seat in the Spanish Congress. She will be replaced in the S&D Group by Laura Ballarín, who was the following candidate in the PSOE electoral list. Ballarín has a degree in political science and has been a member of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) since 2003, where she has been the Secretary for International Policy and European Affairs since 2019.
Laura Ballarín, who has been the head of cabinet of Iratxe García since 2019, today leaves this role and will take her seat in the European Parliament in the plenary session next week. She will be replaced as head of cabinet by Milton Nunes.
Nunes has a degree in international relations, with a specialisation in the social and economic policies of the EU, and has been a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party since 2005.
Commenting on her departure from the Secretariat and ahead of her new role as MEP, Laura Ballarín said:
"It has been a great honour and pleasure to work with our Group President Iratxe García Pérez and our cabinet team over the last four years. I would like to thank them wholeheartedly for their trust and close cooperation. I would also like to express a special thank you to all the S&D staff in the Secretariat with whom I have worked during this time.
"Through challenging times we have achieved a lot together, and we have pushed our progressive agenda to be included in many policy fields. I am looking forward to continuing our joint fight for a progressive Europe, which works for the people and leaves no one behind, in my new role as MEP."
