Born on 13 December 1965 in Madrid,[2] Cospedal was however chiefly raised in Albacete,[3] studying in the later city's Colegio La Anunciata de Nuestra Señora del Rosario and in the Sabuco High School.

[4][5] She moved to Madrid to go to college[5] and, after earning a licentiate degree in Law at the CEU San Pablo University,[6] she passed the competitive public examinations to join the State Lawyers Corps in 1991, serving in this body of top civil servants until 1996.

[7][8] Cospedal married aristocrat José Félix Valdivieso-González y Bravo de la Laguna in 1995; the marriage ended three years later, in 1998, when it was nullified by the Church.

Cospedal was left out of the race as she commanded the 3rd position in number of votes in the primary election (25,9%) after Sáenz de Santamaría and Casado.

[18] Following her exit from the cabinet she also served as Chairwoman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Congress of Deputies from 13 September 2018 to 14 November 2018,[19] when she resigned to her seat.