Maria Elena Fort i Cisneros

Maria Elena Fort i Cisneros (born 1970) is a Spanish Catalan lawyer, football executive and politician, who served as Institutional Vice President of Barcelona and spokeswoman of the Board of Directors between 2021 and 2026 under the presidency of Joan Laporta. She has also served twice as member of the Parliament of Catalonia.

Career Fort was born in 1970 in Barcelona, Spain. She got a degree in law for the University of Barcelona. She specialised in public law and urban planning, founding the law firm BRF Abogados SLP in 1996.

She was part of Laporta's candidacy in the 2015 presidential election, which Josep Maria Bartomeu won. During the campaign, Fort defended the existence of gender quotas and championed the role of women at Barcelona, as well as the desire for a female president. On 19 March 2021, Fort was appointed by the Board as the new Institutional Vice President of the club, succeeding Pau Vilanova Vila-Abadal, and on 31 March became its spokeswoman.

In November 2025, Fort refused to rename the Camp Nou after Leo Messi, saying that there were better ways to honour him.

Following Barcelona's indictment in the Negreira case at the end of 2025, Fort was called to appear before the judge on 27 January 2026 as its representative.

On 9 February 2026, Laporta, Fort and eight other members of Barcelona's Board resigned on in order to be eligible for reelection in the March 2026 elections, as required by the by-laws. Laporta's candidacy won a landslide victory on 16 March 2026.

Political career Fort had a brief stint in Catalan politics when she was part of the Junts per Catalunya candidacy led by Carles Puigdemont in the 2017 early regional election to the Parliament, but she did not win a seat.

In March 2026, Fort it was reported as Carles Puigdemont’s choice for the 2027 Barcelona mayoral race, but she was soon ruled out.

Personal life She got married with Jordi Sirera on 20 March 2015 in a ceremony officiated by Joan Laporta while he was a councillor for Barcelona City Council. They had two children; Sirera died in April 2015 from cancer.