Judge Alaya, the new star judge

Said to be 'horrified' by her popularity

(infolibre.es)

SEVILLE -- First there was Judge Garzón, who was pretty much ousted from his job in a major court in Madrid for getting too close to unseemly behaviour by some politicians (he had also been a Minister in the Zapatero PSOE government). Now there's Judge Mercedes Alaya, who is handling several major cases out of her Seville courtroom. Among these are the ERE Case (about dodgy employment dismissals), the false billing for adult education courses known as the Facturas Falsas case, etc. etc. In the ERE case, she has already officially charged 299 people, about which there are many complaints, mainly from the Junta de Andalucía (majorly implicated in the case) and the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucía (High Court in Andalucía), her boss. Another significant case is that regarding the sale of the Real Betis Balompié football club; and a further one is that of Mercasevilla, from which is derived the very serious ERE case but considered separately, a case of extorsion against two business people who wanted to set up a catering school on land belonging to the city. In the meantime, Judge Alaya appears in the media, usually with photographs similar to the one illustrating this item.

Mercedes Carmen Alaya Rodríguez, her full name, was born in Écija, province of Sevilla, in June 1963. She graduated in Law from the University of Seville and has headed Instruction Court number 6 since 1998. She began to interest the media with the ERE case although she was already being called The Iron Lady of justice in Spain.

Alaya is variously described as distant, unstoppable or persevering, hard working and bright. Also, as elegant and enigmatic.

As is often the case, the media attention she receives and the cases she carries are mentioned both as a criticism and as praise. Politicians tend to be wary of her but there is a Facebook page of Fans of Mercedes Alaya. She apparently dislikes these manifestations of popularity and is even said to be 'horrified' by them.