Between 1990 and 1992, Jiménez lived in Equatorial Guinea, working as a Professor-Tutor in Political Law at the National Distance Education University (UNED) and at the Spanish College in Bata.

[3] In 2003 Jiménez was chosen to be PSOE's candidate for the Mayor of Madrid,[4] but prior to the election was called to other duties in a new post in the Foreign Ministry as Spain's Secretary of State for Ibero-America.

[6] Shortly after, on 20 October 2010, she was appointed by Zapatero to be the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs in a cabinet reshuffle, replacing Miguel Ángel Moratinos.

[8] Also, she led negotiations with the U.S. on cleaning Palomares, Western Europe’s most radioactive site forty-five years after narrowly avoiding nuclear obliteration in a U.S. Air Force accident.

[12] In 2010, Jiménez provoked controversy and scathing criticism from opponents of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez when she said that there were no political prisoners in Venezuela.