La ministra y su hijo

Spain’s minister of defense, Carme Chacón, who made news not only because she was Spain’s first female defense minister, but also because she was 37 years old and pregnant, gave birth to a boy on Monday.

MADRID — Spain’s first female defense minister, whose pregnancy became a symbol of Spain’s new commitment to sexual equality, began maternity leave Tuesday after giving birth to a boy.

The decision to appoint Carme Chacón, 37, defense minister in April raised eyebrows in Spain, a traditionally macho society whose new sexual equality laws placed the country, at least on paper, at the vanguard of Europe. Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero named Ms. Chacón to Spain’s first female-dominated cabinet, in which nine of 17 members are women.

Three cheers for the Spanish government, first legalizing same-sex marriage, and then getting serious about putting women in top positions in the government.

¡Y muy buena suerte y salud a Ministra Chacón y su familia!