An unexpected turn

MADRID, Spain - Here's an image Spaniards will not soon forget: their new defense minister, reviewing trim, crisply uniformed soldiers, with her baby bump on display.

The surprise appointment of Carme Chacon, age 37 and with no military experience, is the boldest statement yet from a Socialist government that has made gender equality one of its top priorities.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who won reelection in March, unveiled a cabinet Monday that not only gives Spain its first female defense minister but also features nine women to eight men. That compares with a 50-50 split in his first term, when there were 16 ministers.

Although women's-rights advocates applauded the appointment, some conservatives have raised objections. A group of retired officers criticized her lack of military background while saying her pregnancy was not a problem.

Chacon, who is seven months pregnant, is now one of the most visible members of a government that has enacted sweeping social legislation in the last few years designed to rid traditionally male-dominated Spain of gender discrimination.

It legalized gay marriage, streamlined divorce procedures, forced political parties to field more female candidates, and passed a law designed to promote women in the workplace and pressure companies to put more of them in their boardrooms.

This time Zapatero even created a new department, the Equality Ministry, to press these goals. The portfolio went to Bibiana Aido, 31.

Women's advocacy groups are delighted with the prime minister's choice of Chacon to oversee a military force that was not even open to women a generation ago. Now 15 percent of its 130,000 troops are women.

Feminists see a twin statement from the prime minister: Not only can a woman hold a senior position in government or business, but she can also do it while expecting a baby.

"Perhaps the message is that even the highest responsibilities have to be compatible with the issue of individual and personal responsibility," said Marisa Soleto of the advocacy group Women's Foundation.

Chacon, who was housing minister in the last government, wore heels, a black pantsuit and white maternity blouse as she reviewed troops Monday at a ceremony in which she officially took over her post. Her husband, Miguel Barroso, once worked in Zapatero's media office.

She called the troops to attention, ordered them to join her in saying "Long live Spain, long live the king," and gave a brief speech in which she said her appointment was a sign of progress.

"The fact that a woman is taking over responsibility for the Defense Ministry is proof of integration between Spanish society and its armed forces," Chacon said.

Spaniards are wondering how the military will digest having a female boss. A senior military official told the newspaper El Pais anonymously that "we receive her with the same respect as her predecessors, and with even more politeness."

The Association of the Spanish Military, made up of retirees, called Zapatero's decision a mistake because it feels Chacon is too inexperienced.

The conservative newspaper El Mundo said it had no problem with seeing a female defense minister, but a pregnant one raises all kinds of concerns, such as whether she will take the allotted 16 weeks of leave when the baby is born.

The combination of a crisis situation among Spanish peacekeepers in Afghanistan or Lebanon and a defense minister on maternity leave would leave Spain in an "absurd" situation, it said in an editorial. Plus, Chacon has no knowledge of military affairs.

"All signs are that Zapatero is using the armed forces as a guinea pig for a provocative experiment," El Mundo said. "Time will tell if this is major progress or nonsense."