Aitana Mas (Crevillent, 1990) politically identifies herself as Botànic’s daughter. Not for nothing she was first the managing director of Transparency and Participation in the department, which was later managed by one of its main supporters, Manuel Alcaraz; in the latter, he started out as Compromís vice-trustee at Cortes, and eleven months after 28M, Mónica Oltra’s departure from the Valencia Executive promoted him to Vice-President.
However, despite his youth, his political experience comes from afar. At just 21, he was elected to the top of the list of the Compromís-Equo Congress for Alicante, thus becoming Spain’s youngest candidate, but eventually ran out of seats and was a councilor and spokesperson for Compromís in Crevillent from 2011 to 2015. Moreover, everything is almost accidental. At that time the formation was looking for a young man for the nomination, he was in third place and took the record by nine votes. Now, on the morning that the mayor of Crevillent, José Manuel Penalva (Compromís), buys coquita from the town bakery, the comment is imperative: «Penalva, who saw us and who sees us? Eleven years ago they told us where we would be and we wouldn’t believe it.
With his accommodating nature, his heart did not tremble after just four months, as one of those people who are prone to dialogue and know when to stay in the forefront and when to stay in the background. The President arrogantly dismissed Mireia Mollà, Minister of Agriculture and Environment, for accumulating rudeness. He was going to try to turn the industry back on, although he was not very successful in the primary elections held in the province at the beginning of this year. Aitana Mas emerged victorious in a process that would confirm her as the top of the list of Valencians in Alicante. That’s why she doesn’t hesitate to describe last year as “heavy”. Because of the intensity required by a position like vice president, but also because of the pressure, and above all, the pressure he puts on himself, as he admits.
As a Public Works Engineer with a degree in Civil Engineering, Aitana Mas describes herself as a highly responsible woman, one of her strengths as well as one of her weaknesses. She doesn’t know what her free time is for a long time, but she tries to take advantage of the little space left by her daily life to travel and, above all, spend time with her family. “My husband and I have tough jobs and last year hasn’t been easy either. My only priority is spending time with them,” she says. With her husband, and especially with Aimar, who is 21 months old and will soon have a younger sister or brother. The formula for reconciliation? A quick getaway to Alsace.