 The University of Madrid has played a major role in the political development of Spain since its founding.Its graduates have been members, at either Congressional or Ministerial level, in all of the governments of Spain since the Enlightenment, and their positions in the Second Spanish Republic and the post-Franco transition to democracy were particularly notable.The former first Deputy Prime Minister, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, and the former President, José María Aznar, are both graduates of the university.