Henry Olsen interviewed Isabel Díaz Ayuso,

the President of the Madrid region, for the Washington Post. She made quite an impression:
Free-market conservatives have been looking for a hero in this populist, Trumpian age. They might just have one in the president of the Madrid region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.

 

I’ve written before about Ayuso and how she tried, in Madrid, to counter the pandemic and keep contagion under control while avoiding lockdowns and preserving the liberty of individuals in their daily life. She was recently positively portrayed in the Wall Street Journal, too. I think Olsen is right that she is a bright spot for “free-market conservatives”, who have not recently seen many leaders embracing lower taxes and lighter regulations. To her immense credit, Ayuso did so in daring circumstances, in which many a political leader went for an easier pay off: lock down, leave people at home and subsidize them. In Madrid, it is quite amazing to roam around and find her picture in small shops, whose owners are grateful that she allowed them to continue work and earn their living in the same way they used to.

Olsen captures her persona, besides her politics:

Ayuso is decisive and fluent in the details of government. More important, she speaks passionately about her devotion to liberty. “I believe in freedom,” she says. “I believe in the person, in the individual.” She is also thoroughly modern; a nonreligious, nightlife-loving woman who sports a Depeche Mode tattoo on her forearm. Many young American conservatives yearn for a smart, serious and principled leader like her.

Read the whole thing.