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Spain approves its new gender equality law

The Spanish government has given the green light to the gender parity law this Thursday, which will see more women in positions of power.

Published: 27 June 2024 16:51 CEST
Spain approves its new gender equality law
Spain's Minister for Equality Ana Redondo on the country's new parity law. Photo: JAVIER SORIANO / AFP

The law was first pre-approved back in March 2023, but ultimately dropped due to the general election taking place in July last year.

It was then re-approved in December 2023 and was forwarded to the Spanish Congress of Deputies to await another vote, before finally given the green light this Thursday.

The parity law aims to guarantee the presence of women in positions of power and means that it will be compulsory for there to be at least a 40 percent representation of women in government, on the boards of directors of large companies, and in constitutional bodies.

READ ALSO: How Spain’s new gender parity law will affect companies and government

It’s also designed to guarantee equal opportunities between men and women, especially in important positions, both in the public and private sectors.  

The bill passed with 177 votes in favour, despite the rejection of PP and Vox, and will now be sent to the Senate, where it is expected to undergo some modifications before final approval and it ultimately coming into force.

READ ALSO: Why do laws in Spain take so long to come into force?

“Today is a great day,” the Spanish Minister for Equality Ana Redondo celebrated at the close of the debate. “A social and historical injustice is removed”, since “there is no merit and capacity without equality”, she continued. 

Socialist deputy Andrea Fernández also praised the law saying it “will allow no girl to grow up ever again without a reference to look to, if she wants to be a magistrate, lawyer, executive, union member, nurse or lawyer”.

Ione Belarra, general secretary of Podemos was happy that the PSOE accepted an amendment from her party to eliminate “men’s quotas”, which means that women can now represent 100 percent of the workforce in the public and private sectors.

The previous draft of the bill had capped the percentage of women in public and private management bodies to 60 percent.

The law will affect those on electoral lists and constitutional bodies, which includes the government, Constitutional Court, Council of State, Fiscal Council and Court of Accounts.

READ ALSO: Spanish govt creates app to highlight gender imbalance in household chores

In terms of the government, it means that 44 percent of the seats in Spain’s Congress and 39 percent in the Senate must be occupied by women.

The Council of Ministers (or Spanish Cabinet) must also have an equal number of men and women, so that each sex must represent at least 40 percent of the total. 

The law will also affect senior management of the state institutional public sector, the administrators of listed companies, and the composition of bodies, as well as boards of directors and large listed companies.

Ibex 35 companies will have until June 30th, 2026 to adapt their management bodies, while the rest of the stock market companies will have until June 30th, 2027 to make sure enough women are represented.

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POLITICS

Spain court refuses amnesty for Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont

Spain's Supreme Court refused Monday to grant an amnesty to Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont on a charge of misusing public funds, maintaining arrest warrants over his failed 2017 secession attempt.

Published: 1 July 2024 14:50 CEST
Spain court refuses amnesty for Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont

Spanish MPs in May passed an amnesty law aimed at drawing a line under years of efforts to prosecute those involved in the botched secession bid that triggered Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.

Blocking the amnesty for Puigdemont could complicate life for Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who relied on Catalan parties to secure a new term in office in November.

The law is expected to affect some 400 people, first and foremost Puigdemont, regional leader at the time of the independence bid, who fled Spain to avoid prosecution.

In a statement, the court said judge Pablo Llarena, who is in charge of the case, “issued an order declaring the amnesty is not applicable to the crime of misuse of public funds”.

It said it agreed to keep in place “the arrest warrants” against him.

Any appeal must be made within three days.

Disobedience, embezzlement charges

Sánchez agreed to push through the measure in exchange for the parliamentary support of the Catalan separatist parties for him to serve a new four-year term in office.

After parliament voted to approve the amnesty law on May 30, judges were given two months to apply the law by annulling the charges and cancelling any arrest warrants against the separatists.

But the courts must apply the amnesty on a case-by-case basis, making it a long and drawn-out process.

Last year, the Supreme Court dropped the sedition charges against Puigdemont and two others following a controversial criminal code reform.

Prosecutors filed fresh charges against them of misuse of public funds and disobedience in connection with the independence bid.

In February, the court also opened a “terrorism” probe into Puigdemont over a string of mass street protests by a group called Democratic Tsunami. Spain jailed 13 pro-independence leaders in 2019 over the protests.

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In his decision, Llarena said the amnesty law was applicable to the crime of disobedience, but could not be applied in the case of misappropriation of public funds because of two exceptions.

The law allows the amnesty to be applied if the funds were used to finance the pro-independence process, but not if the money was taken for personal gain or if it involved European Union funds.

For that reason, the arrest warrant for Puigdemont would remain in place “for the offence of misuse of public funds but not for disobedience,” the judge wrote.

Separate ‘terrorism’ charge

The other case against Puigdemont involving so-called street “terrorism” is being handled separately.

Shortly after the announcement, Puigdemont posted a brief message on X, formerly Twitter, referring to “La Toga Nostra” — comparing the robe-clad judges to Sicily’s Costa Nostra mafia.

Last month, Llarena informed police that the arrest warrant for Puigdemont would remain in force until a decision were made about whether amnesty can be applied in his case or not.

Many judges have expressed opposition to the amnesty law. Spain’s right-wing and far-right opposition has staged months of protests against it, some of which have turned violent.

It has also caused deep rifts within Spanish society and even within Sanchez’s own ruling Socialist party.

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