Ione Belarra

Ione Belarra Urteaga (born 25 September 1987) is a Spanish politician and psychologist from Podemos who served as Minister of Social Rights and 2030 Agenda from 2021 to 2023.

During those years she has served as an activist and volunteer in various organizations, such as SOS Racismo and the Spanish Red Cross, and in platforms and campaigns for the closure of the Centers for the Internment of Foreigners (CIEs), as well as in various mobilizations in defense of the human rights of people in situations of special vulnerability.

The following year, she entered its national executive, the Citizens' Council, where she was put in charge of the area of human rights, citizenship and diversity.

[9] In 2022, Belarra introduced legislation to ban the sale of pets in shops, convert zoos into wildlife recovery centres and impose prison sentences for abusers as part of Spain's first animal-rights bill, which notably did not target bullfighting.

[10] A month later, the PSOE group in the Congress of Deputies tabled an amendment to restrict the scope of the text, excluding animals related to hunting, a decision which was strongly criticised by Unidas Podemos.