Rocío Monasterio

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Rocío Monasterio San Martín (born 4 February 1974) is a Spanish-Cuban architect, businesswoman and politician. She led the Madrid provincial branch of the right-wing Vox party and served as a member of the Assembly of Madrid from June 2019 until October 2024, when she resigned from all political positions after being removed from regional leadership by the party’s national leadership.

Her birthplace is reported as either Cuba or Madrid, though she has stated that Madrid is her origin. Her family has Cuban roots, with ancestors who were landowners and had business interests in Cienfuegos. After the Cuban Revolution, some properties were nationalized, and parts of the family moved to Spain. Her father later opened the first KFC in Spain.

Monasterio studied architecture at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM), starting in 1992, and later earned her degree in 2009. She founded her architecture firm, Rocío Monasterio and Associates, in 2000, and the firm has focused on acquiring properties and turning them into high-end lofts.

She has been a regular media presence, appearing on the political talk show El gato al agua on Intereconomía TV and on CNN en Español. She joined Vox in 2014 and became president of Vox Madrid, also serving as vice-secretary of Social Matters for the party.

In December 2018, Monasterio said she had been threatened and attacked, claiming she faced threats, insults, and physical violence. She is married to real estate developer Iván Espinosa de los Monteros since 2001, and they have four children. The couple designed and built a house together, which is valued at around 3 million euros.

Politically, Monasterio is anti-abortion and describes herself as a feminist in the tradition of Concepción Arenal, opposing radical feminism and what she sees as demonization of the traditional family. She has proposed replacing Violence Against Women laws with Violence Against Family to protect all family members who may face violence. She is against surrogacy and has voiced opposition to teaching about sexual orientation to children in some contexts. She has suggested moving Madrid’s Gay Pride Parade and has argued that marriage should be between a man and a woman, with other unions treated as civil unions.

Monasterio supported efforts to challenge the Madrid regional government over conversions therapies and has taken various conservative positions on social issues. She has described herself as a climate change skeptic and has advocated strict immigration policies, including deportation of illegal immigrants, while arguing that migrants from Cuba and Venezuela may be escaping dictatorships. Internationally, she has participated in the Madrid Forum, a right-wing network.

Her involvement in politics has included strong national and regional advocacy, and her personal and professional life has been closely tied to her public role in Vox Madrid.