Spain’s government has approved a draft law that aims to bolster the presence of women in decision-making spheres by setting out quotas for women in politics, business and professional associations.
“This is useful policy that changes people’s lives,” the country’s finance minister, Nadia Calviño, said on Tuesday. “It’s clear that we’ve come a long way … but there is still a lot to do.”
The draft law requires political parties to field an equal number of male and female candidates during elections, whether national or municipal. Women now make up 43% of Spain’s congress and 40% of its senate.
Parties that lead central government will have to appoint a cabinet that includes at least 40% of each gender. The Socialist-led government counts 14 women among its 23 cabinet ministers, slightly more than 60%.
Publicly listed companies will have until mid-2024 to ensure corporate boards include at least 40% of the “underrepresented sex”, said Calviño. Companies with more than 250 workers and annual turnover that exceeds €50m will have until 2026 to do the same.
The imperative is in line with binding targets approved by the EU in June. In 2021 women accounted for 29% of board members of listed companies in Spain.
The draft law also sets out a 40% quota for professional associations to be met by mid-2026, as well as for award juries that are financed with public money. The quotas for electoral lists builds on legislation already in place in a handful of European countries, including Slovenia and Portugal, and seeks to improve on previous Spanish legislation that set out a quota of 40% of women on electoral lists.
In 1994 Belgium became one of the first countries in the world to legislate gender quotas for all electoral levels, setting out that candidate lists could not include more than two-thirds of candidates of either sex.
Announced in the lead-up to International Women’s Day on Wednesday, the proposed legislation still needs to be voted on by Spain’s parliament. But in a year replete with elections – municipal, regional and general – the initiative is a nod to how the governing Socialist party is aiming to position itself on women’s rights.
“If women represent half of society, then half of the political power and half of the economic power must belong to women,” the Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said on Saturday as he announced the legislation. “There will be people who find this irritating and even absolutely disproportionate,” he added. “But we think it is justice, plain and simple.”
The law is the latest equality measure to be rolled out by the Socialists and their junior coalition partner, Unidas Podemos. Earlier this year, Spain became the first country in Europe to offer state-funded menstrual leave as part of initiatives that also eased constraints on abortion for 16- and 17-year-olds.
On Tuesday, the draft law was welcomed by Fedepe, the Spanish federation that represents female executives, professionals and entrepreneurs. “But we’re waiting to see the fine print and how this is applied,” said Ana Bujaldón, the group’s president.
“All too often we’re seeing what we call ‘equality washing’ – actions that are more cosmetic than real,” she added. “So let’s see how this turns out.”
