María de las Mercedes Rico Carabias

María de las Mercedes Rico Carabias (21 January 1945 – 15 June 2022) was a Spanish diplomat and politician. She was Spain's first female ambassador, representing the country in Costa Rica (1985–1987), Italy (1994–1996) and Ireland (2008–2011). From 2004 to 2008, she was in charge of the General Directorate for Religious Affairs, within the Ministry of Justice.

Biography Rico's mother was (1912–1980), one of Spain's first female journalists, who documented the Spanish Civil War. Her older sister was the writer Carmen Rico Godoy (1939–2001), who was born in Paris shortly after the war, as their parents claimed asylum due to their socialist and republican views. Rico was born in Madrid as the family had returned to Francoist Spain, where her Almería-born father José Rico Godoy was sentenced to 12 years in prison for political reasons.

Rico joined the diplomatic services in 1973, as the third woman to enter the profession in Spain.