María Bernaldo de Quirós

María Salud Bernaldo de Quirós (26 March 1898 – 26 September 1983) was the first woman in Spain to earn a pilot's licence, passing her test in early October 1928 and receiving the licence from the Escuela Nacional Aeronáutica (National Aeronautical School) on the following 24 November. The first Spanish male pilot, Benito Loygorri, had made his first flight in Spain seven years earlier.

Early life Born on 26 March 1898 in Madrid, Bernaldo de Quirós was the daughter of aristocrats Rafael Bernaldo de Quirós y Mier and Consolación Bustillo y Mendoza. She married twice, first to her cousin Ramón Bernaldo de Quirós y Argüelles who died in 1920. The couple had two children but both died, one shortly after her husband. In 1922, Bernaldo de Quirós married José Manuel Sánchez-Arjona y Velasco who became mayor of Ciudad Rodrigo in the Province of Salamanca, but the marriage was short lived. She took part in various demonstrations and flying exhibitions in northern Spain, including those in Vitoria, San Sebastián, Oviedo, Gijón and Vigo.