Microsoft Word - pe419612_en 9_November

DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES

POLICY DEPARTMENT C: CITIZENS' RIGHTS AND

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Spanish policy on gender equality:

relevant current legislation and policies

NOTE

Abstract

This paper explores the main current Spanish legislation and policies relating to gender

equality. Spain has moved in approximately three decades from being a ‘latecomer’ to

being a ‘pioneer’ in gender equality policies. During this time Spain has consolidated its

institutional machinery on gender equality policies (section 1.1). It has developed a

strategy to promote gender equality based on equal opportunities, positive actions

(2.3), and gender mainstreaming (2.2), and has adopted both plans and laws as policy

instruments (2.1). It has approved a comprehensive law against gender violence that

frames it as a public matter of high political priority and an issue of Human Rights

(3.1), and an equality law that covers a broad range of issues, from paternity leave to a

more gender-balanced political representation (respectively in 3.2 and 3.3). It has

improved gender equality in politics, through a parity government and an increase in

women’s political representation (3.3). It has placed the issue of reconciliation of work

and family on the political agenda (3.2). The Spanish government is currently working

on new laws such as a law on sexual and reproductive health and an equal treatment

act covering different inequalities. Despite this progress, many challenges still lie ahead

for Spanish policy on gender equality, some of which will be tackled in this briefing

note.

PE 419.612 EN

This document was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights

and Gender Equality.

AUTHOR

Dr Emanuela LOMBARDO

Ramón y Cajal Researcher at the Department of Political Science and Administration II of

Madrid Complutense University, Spain

E-mail: [email protected]

; web: http://www.ucm.es/info/target/.

RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATOR

Ms Helene CALERS

Policy Department C - Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs

European Parliament

B-1047 Brussels

E-mail: poldep-citizens@europarl.europa.eu

LINGUISTIC VERSIONS

Original: EN

ABOUT THE EDITOR

To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe to its newsletter please write to: poldep-

[email protected]

Manuscript completed in October 2009

Brussels, © European Parliament, 2009.

This document is available on the Internet at:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies

DISCLAIMER

The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do

not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament.

Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorized, provided the

source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy.

Spanish policy on gender equality: relevant current legislation and policies

CONTENTS

1. SPANISH INSTITUTIONAL MACHINERY AND POLITICAL CONTEXT

OF GENDER EQUALITY 4

1.1 The consolidation of the Spanish institutional machinery on gender equality 4

1.2 The political context of Spanish gender equality policies 5

2. POLICY INSTRUMENTS AND STRATEGIES FOR GENDER EQUALITY IN

SPAIN 5

2.1 Policy instruments: equality plans and laws 5

2.2 Policy strategies: gender mainstreaming 6

2.3 Policy strategies: positive actions 8

3. LEGISLATION AND POLICIES ON GENDER EQUALITY IN SPAIN: MAIN

CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS 8

3.1 Violence against women: ‘a public matter’ 8

3.2 Reconciliation of work and family life and care issues 10

3.3 Women’s political representation: parity government and

the ‘40-60 share’ 12

CONCLUSIONS: SPAIN, FROM ‘LATECOMER’ TO ‘PIONEER’ IN GENDER

EQUALITY POLICIES 14

REFERENCES 15

Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs

1. SPANISH INSTITUTIONAL MACHINERY AND

POLITICAL CONTEXT OF GENDER EQUALITY

1.1 The consolidation of the Spanish institutional machinery on

gender equality

In about three decades, Spain has moved from being a dictatorship and a latecomer in

gender equality policies to being one of the European pioneers in the promotion of gender

equality.

Between Franco’s death in 1975 and Spain’s entry in the European Community in 1986,

the national agency for gender equality, the Woman’s Institute

, was created in 1983.

From that moment, the starting point for Spanish state feminism and public policies on

the issue, gender equality policies and the institutional framework created around them

have developed very quickly in Spain both at the national and regional levels, with the

creation of gender equality agencies in the Spanish Autonomous Communities and the

consolidation of the national equality machinery

The institutional framework around gender equality policies at the national level was

progressively strengthened with the creation of the Equality Policies General Secretariat

in 2004, which is of a higher rank than the Woman’s Institute, and the establishment of

the Ministry of Equality

in 2008. These institutional changes reinforced the gender

framework but also allowed the adoption of a broader perspective and the inclusion of

other inequalities

. In Spain, there are currently separate equality agencies for each

inequality in Article 13 of the EC Treaty except sexual orientation

. However, steps are

being taken within the Ministry of Equality to deal with all inequalities mentioned in

Article 13 of the EC Treaty (sex, race or ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion or

belief, and disability) within a single body that is likely to be the current Ministry of

Equality. The consolidated character of the Spanish gender equality machinery is

noticeable in the fact that the Woman’s Institute will be maintained as a structure to

promote gender equality, together with the future body that will cover all six inequalities,

including sex

Acknowledgments: I wish to thank the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Social

Fund for funding my research through the 2006 Ramón y Cajal Program, the European Commission and the

team members of the European FP6 QUING Project on the Quality of Gender Equality Policies (www.quing.eu

the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament for commissioning this

briefing note, María Bustelo for commenting it, and Eduardo Jáuregui for proofreading it.

Ley 16/1983, de 24 de octubre de 1983. See Bustelo and Ortbals 2007; Valiente 1995.

This overview of the main recent policies and legislation, for reasons of brevity, is by no means exhaustive. It

can only tackle a selection of issues of the Spanish gender equality policy. Moreover, despite the relevance of

the regional policy level when addressing gender equality in Spain, in this paper the national level is the main

object of analysis.

Real Decreto 562/2004, de 19 de abril de 2004; Real Decreto 1600/2004, de 2 de julio de 2004.

Real Decreto 438/2008, de 14 de abril de 2008; Real Decreto 1135/2008, de 4 de julio de 2008.

The two EU anti-discrimination directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC have been partially transposed

through the Ley 62/2003 de medidas fiscales, administrativas y sociales. See Bustelo 2009.

On gender the Woman’s Institute and the Equality Policies General Secretariat; on race and ethnicity, the

Council for the Advancement of Equality of Treatment and no Discrimination of People on the grounds of Racial

or Ethnic Origin, the Forum for the Social Integration of Immigrants, the Spanish Observatory on Racism and

Xenophobia, and the Council of Roma People; on disability, the National Disability Council; on age, the Youth

Institute; on religion the Advisory Commission on Religious Freedom and the Directorate General of Religious

Affairs within the Ministry of Justice.

Bustelo 2009.

Spanish policy on gender equality: relevant current legislation and policies

1.2 The political context of Spanish gender equality policies

The political context is crucial to understand developments in gender equality policies in

Spain. At the national level, the main factor for the creation of the Woman’s Institute in

1983 was the initiative of the Socialist Party in government at the time and the activism

of feminist socialist women

. Thus, up to the mid 1990s national gender policies in Spain

were identified with the Socialist Party. However, in 1996 the Popular Party took office

and women’s agencies and gender policies were also supported then by the new Cabinet.

United Nations (IV World Conference in Beijing) and European Union (EU) pressures were

key factors in the maintenance of state feminism in Spain

. After eight years of

conservative government, in March 2004 there was an important political change. The

new socialist government, led by Rodríguez Zapatero, had a considerable impact on

gender policies with measures such as a parity government, the creation of the Equality

Policies General Secretariat, and the approval of important laws such as the Law 1/2004

against gender violence

, the reform of the Civil Code which allows same-sex marriage

(Law 13/2005)

, the ‘Dependency law’ (Law 39/2006)

, and the Law 3/2007 on

Substantive Equality between Women and Men (from now on referred to as the Equality

Law)

. The re-election of Zapatero in 2008 has brought further change to the equality

machinery and legislation, such as the creation of the mentioned Ministry of Equality and

a recent law proposal on sexual and reproductive health and voluntary interruption of

pregnancy

. The Ministry of Equality is also preparing an Equal Treatment Act to combat

discrimination, on which an Expert Group created by the Ministry is currently working

2. POLICY INSTRUMENTS AND STRATEGIES FOR GENDER

EQUALITY IN SPAIN

2.1 Policy instruments: equality plans and laws

Prior to the approval in the last decade of equality laws and gender units within public

administrations and ministries (see sections 3 and 2.2), plans had been the main policy

instrument employed to implement public policies on gender equality in Spain. Gender

equality plans, formulated by public bodies encharged with the promotion of gender

equality policies such as the Woman’s Institute and adopted by the Cabinet, include

measures and goals that different governmental departments, and sometimes also civil

society organisations, need to implement during a specific period of time

. The

Valiente 1995.

Lombardo 2004.

Ley Orgánica 1/2004, de 28 de diciembre, de Medidas de Protección Integral contra la Violencia de Género.

Ley 13/2005, de 1 de julio, por la que se modifica el Código Civil en materia de derecho a contraer

matrimonio.

Ley 39/2006 de 14 de diciembre de 2006 de promoción de la autonomía personal y atención a las personas

en situación de dependencia.

Ley Orgánica 3/2007, de 22 de marzo, para la igualdad efectiva de mujeres y hombres.

Proyecto de Ley Orgánica de salud sexual y reproductiva y de la interrupción voluntaria del embarazo

(121/000041). This law proposal aims at guaranteeing Fundamental Rights in sexual and reproductive health,

regulating conditions of the voluntary interruption of pregnancy that protect women’s rights and do not

discriminate women (among the provisions is the exclusion of abortion from the Penal Code, the enabling of it

until the first 14

week if a woman asks for it, and until the 22

week for health reasons), and establishing

public obligations of information, education and provision of assistance by the National Health System. See

www.congreso.es

(accessed 30/09/2009).

Bustelo 2009.

Bustelo and Ortbals 2007.

Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs

introduction of equality laws, approved first in the Autonomous Communities and later at

the national level, shows the consolidation of gender equality policies in Spain. Unlike

plans, gender equality laws entitle individuals to take judicial action to claim their rights

in courts. The 2007 Equality Law and other important Spanish laws, such as the Law on

Gender Violence, will be discussed in section 3.

Equality plans and laws are now complementary instruments in developing gender

equality policies in Spain. Both may enable a transversal approach to policymaking, as

they may tackle different areas. The Equality Law 3/2007 legitimises the use of policy

plans as key instruments in gender equality policy, in addition to laws. The current plan,

which implements the 2007 Equality Law, is the Strategic Plan of Equality of

Opportunities 2008-2011

, which is based on principles of equality and non-

discrimination and includes measures in 12 priority areas such as socio-political and

economic participation, co-responsibility in family and work tasks, education, knowledge,

health, attention to diversity and social inclusion, violence, development, media, and

protection of the right to equality.

2.2 Policy strategies: gender mainstreaming

Gender equality policy plans and laws in Spain have been guided not only by the principle

of equality of opportunities between the sexes, but also by policy strategies, such as

gender mainstreaming and positive actions, that aim at achieving a broader equality of

outcome. Gender mainstreaming is the strategy adopted by the EU through Articles 2 and

3(2) of the EC Treaty to ensure that policymakers introduce a gender perspective into all

policies and processes, by analysing ex ante the potential impact that policy proposals

on, for instance, finance or research could have on women and men and by formulating

public policies that in their specific sectors promote gender equality. Spanish gender

equality policy plans have adopted a transversal approach, as they require different

governmental departments to adopt gender policy measures included in the plan.

However, the institutionalisation of gender mainstreaming has been explicitly formalised

in the 2007 Equality Law (especially, but not only, in Title II Article 15), which requires

public administrations to mainstream gender in the adoption, implementation, and

budgeting of all policies. To evaluate ex ante the potential impact of laws from a

gender perspective, and ensure that legislative proposals on issues such as transport or

education do not create or maintain gender inequalities but rather promote gender

equality, Law 30/2003

requires policymakers to draft a report to assess the gender

impact of all governmental laws. The 2007 Equality Law (Title II, Article 19) extends the

requirement to draft a gender impact assessment report prior to the adoption of policy

measures also to policy plans of special economic, social, artistic, and cultural relevance,

which is particularly important considering the key role of plans as privileged policy

instruments in Spain. In order to provide the necessary expertise for mainstreaming

gender into all policies, the Equality Law prescribes the creation of gender units within

all Ministries (Title VII, Article 77) so that experts in both gender and the policy field of

each specific Ministry may help in the design and implementation of policies with a

gender perspective and in the collection of data and elaboration of studies. Finally, to

help policymakers acquire the competence needed to plan, implement, and evaluate

public policies taking gender into account, the Equality Law requires the State General

http://www.inmujer.migualdad.es/mujer/politicas/aqui.html (accessed 30/09/09).

Ley 30/2003 del 13 de octubre. Laws in the Catalan (Ley 4/2001), Andalusia, (Ley 18/2003), and the

Basque (Ley 4/2005) regional contexts also prescribe gender impact assessment.

Spanish policy on gender equality: relevant current legislation and policies

Administration to organise gender training for all public administration personnel and to

introduce gender issues in the exam for becoming civil servants (Title V, Article 61).

While at the formal level important steps towards the institutionalisation of gender

mainstreaming have been taken in Spain, implementation is slower. Gender units within

all Ministries have been created, though with organisational and personnel differences -

according to data of the Ministry of Equality (2009). Gender impact assessment of a

number of laws and plans has been performed

while a gender impact assessment of the

National Budget Law has been conducted for the first time for the 2009 Budget Law

The latter analyses gender inequalities in each ministerial area (though not always

documented through gender disaggregated statistical data), the budget lines dedicated to

gender, and the plans for employing the budget to correct gender inequalities. Gender

experts and activists have appreciated the gender impact assessment of the 2009 Budget

Law as a good first step yet in need of improvements, as, for instance, it does not include

the gender impact of tax systems and does not analyse the invisible unpaid work that

women perform to care for dependant and ill relatives

. According to research performed

in the EQUAPOL project, the Spanish decentralised model has given regions a degree of

autonomy that has enabled some of them to make progress in gender mainstreaming

prior to the national level of government

. This can be noticed, for example, in the

experiences of gender budgeting in the Andalusian and the Basque regions. The

Andalusian government has created a Budget Commission that has elaborated gender

impact assessment reports of the Andalusian budget since 2006

. Emakunde, the

Basque Women’s Institute, conducted a pilot experience of gender budgeting in 6

governmental departments from 1996 to 2004

Gender training of public administrations is increasing in Spain, though training practices

are not systematically conducted in all public administration departments

. The gender

training of public administration personnel by the Andalusian Gender Equality Unit was a

pioneering experience in the implementation of gender mainstreaming through the

training of civil servants and the elaboration of manuals to help public administrators

incorporate a gender perspective in their daily work

. Gender disaggregated statistical

data are in process of development, and the Ministry of Equality, the Ministry of Public

Administrations and the National Institute of Security and Hygiene at Work are making

some progress in this direction

. One limitation of the Spanish gender mainstreaming

model is its scant emphasis on the participation of women’s organisations, which can be

seen in the lack of institutionalised channels for women’s participation in policymaking in

a country where gender equality policies began more than 25 years ago. An indicator of

this lack of participatory approach is, for instance, the fact that the Council of Woman’s

Participation announced in the Equality Law has not yet been created

Ministerio de Igualdad 2009.

See http://www.meh.es/es-ES/Paginas/Home.aspx (accessed 26/10/2009).

See http://impactodegeneroya.blogia.com/ (accessed 27/10/09).

Clavero and Daly 2004.

See http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/economiayhacienda/planif_presup/genero/informe.htm (accessed

28/10/09).

http://www.emakunde.euskadi.net/u72-home/es/ (accessed 28/10/09)

Espirito Santo et al 2007.

See http://www.unidadgenero.com/default.cfm (accessed 28/10/09).

Ministerio de Igualdad 2009.

The Council of State, on the 8th October 2009, has analysed the proposal to regulate functions,

competencies and composition of the Council of Woman’s Participation. Proyecto de Real Decreto por el que se

regula el régimen de funcionamiento, competencias y composición del Consejo de Participación de la Mujer

(Dictamen núm. 1.500/2009), http://www.consejo-estado.es/asuntos.php

(accessed 16/10/09).

Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs

2.3 Policy strategies: positive actions

Positive actions seek to correct the initial disadvantage of women, taking gender into

account in establishing the criteria for hiring and promoting personnel, and for

participating in decision-making institutions. In all of these situations, the application of a

compensatory measure means favouring, in cases of equal merit, a woman over a man.

The EU legal basis for positive actions measures is Article 141(4) of the EC Treaty. The

Equality Law in its Article 11 encourages Public Authorities to adopt positive actions ‘in

favour of women to correct obvious cases of inequality of outcome in relation to men’.

The Equality Law also introduces positive actions in the area of political representation

(see section 3.3).

3. LEGISLATION AND POLICIES ON GENDER EQUALITY

IN SPAIN: MAIN CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

3.1 Violence against women: ‘a public matter’

The first law approved by the Zapatero Cabinet in 2004 was the Organic Law 1/2004

on Comprehensive Protection Measures against Gender Violence

. The law, which

was approved with the support of all Spanish political parties, shows that the problem of

violence against women in Spain is not only a ‘public matter’ but also a high political

priority. Gender violence has shifted from being a ‘private matter’ to being a public issue

that concerns women’s Human Rights and that the state is responsible for solving. The

increasing public recognition of the problem of gender violence that led to the approval of

Law 1/2004 is a result of the mobilisation of the feminist movement in favour of a

comprehensive law on violence against women since 1993

The Organic Law 1/2004 against gender violence is considered as a ‘pioneering’ law at

least for five reasons. Firstly it defines gender violence as a problem of gender inequality

-‘the most brutal symbol of gender inequality’- as the Preamble states. Thus, it

overcomes the previous framing of the issue as ‘domestic violence’, which located

violence against women in a neutral ‘domestic’ space that did not specify relations of

inequality and the position of men and women in this space. Violence against women is

clearly defined in the 1/2004 Law as the result of patriarchal structures or the unequal

gender power hierarchies that place men in a privileged situation over women. The law

establishes Special Courts to deal with crimes of gender violence, where professionals are

trained for such cases. Secondly, the law makes clear that gender violence is a public

matter, explicitly bringing out this ‘invisible crime’

from the private sphere where it had

been placed for so long (‘violence is not an issue that belongs to the private sphere’

states the Preamble of the law). Thirdly, the law adopts a comprehensive approach to

solve the problem, which includes a variety of legal, penal, judicial, social, health, and

educational measures, together with measures for recognising women’s rights and

coordinating among different policy actors to prevent violence and protect victims.

Fourthly, the law creates two bodies located within the Ministry of Equality: a

Governmental Delegation on Gender Violence

, with the aim of promoting and

coordinating governmental policies against gender violence, and a State Observatory on

Bustelo, López and Platero (2007: 67).

Ley Orgánica 1/2004, de Medidas de Protección Integral contra la Violencia de Género.

Bustelo, López and Platero 2007.

Bustelo, López and Platero 2007: 92.

http://www.inmujer.migualdad.es/violencia-mujer/Index_Delegacion.html (accessed 28/10/09)

Spanish policy on gender equality: relevant current legislation and policies

Violence against Women

which collects data on gender violence and produces studies

on the evolution of the phenomenon. Finally, by drawing on the legal definition of gender

violence as that which is directed against women due to the mere fact of being women,

the law penalises men and women differently for the crime of violence against their

partners, with stronger measures reserved for male perpetrators.

Despite its progress, the Law on violence has some limitations. Concerning policy design,

the law was criticised for its limited definition of ‘gender violence’, which encompasses

only violence within partnerships and ex-partnerships, rather than including also sexual

harassment

, rape, trafficking in women, sexual violence outside partnerships, sexist

language, and so on

. Migrant women victims of violence have more difficulties in

receiving public protection. Amnesty International in 2005 denounced the fact that sans

papier migrant women victims of violence could not access economic benefits and

shelters provided by the Law 1/2004

. Law 14/2003

offers some protection to

battered migrant women whose residence permit depends on their perpetrator-spouse as

it enables them to obtain an independent residence permit, after the judge has issued a

protection order. Regarding policy implementation, one of the problems of the law is that

most of the measures must be implemented by the Autonomous Communities, and this

leads to different levels of protection in the regions. Insufficient economic resources for

the law have also been criticised

. In its 2008 Evaluation Report, the Ministry of Equality

conducted a first assessment of the effects of the application of the Law on the struggle

against gender violence

. The report states that the Spanish government, since the

adoption of the Law 1/2004, has spent almost 800 million euros in policies aimed at

preventing and tackling gender violence. It enumerates a great variety of policy

measures introduced to comply with the law. These include: educational, information,

training and awareness-raising actions targeted at different collectives; institutional

actions of the Government Delegation on Gender Violence and the State Observatory on

Violence against Women (such as the production of an annual report on the situation of

gender violence and the implementation of the Violence Law, and the elaboration of

indicators of gender violence to enable a more efficient collection of data)

, and the

setting up of 59 Violence Units in the Delegations and Sub delegations of the Government

to coordinate actions on violence in the whole territory; judicial assistance to victims

through the coordinated work of special police and judicial professionals and judicial

response and penalisation of perpetrators; and social assistance to victims. According to

the Ministry of Equality (2008), the number of reports on gender violence has increased

by 72.1% from 2002 to 2007 and the percentage of homicides due to gender violence

has decreased by 8.7% since the adoption of the Violence Law. Nevertheless, the

Government Report on the Evaluation of the Law also admits that 3 years is too short a

See http://www.inmujer.migualdad.es/violencia-mujer/Observatorio.html (accessed 28/10/09).

Sexual harassment has been prohibited by the Equality Law 3/2007, transposing the EU Directive

2002/73/CE.

See Bustelo, López and Platero 2007 and CEDAW Shadow Report of the feminist Platform ‘Impacto de

género ya’ (http://impactodegeneroya.blogia.com/

(accessed 26/10/09).

Inmigrantes indocumentadas. ¿Hasta cuándo sin protección frente a la violencia de género? Amnistía

Internacional, 2005, www.es.amnesty.org

(accessed 28/10/09).

Ley Orgánica 14/2003, de 20 de noviembre, de Reforma de la Ley orgánica 4/2000, de 11 de enero, sobre

derechos y libertades de los extranjeros en España y su integración social. Real Decreto 1162/2009 in its Article

96.3 enables victims of violence to obtain a residence and work permit before the required 1 year legal

residence.

See Platform ‘Impacto de género ya’ http://impactodegeneroya.blogia.com/ (accessed 26/10/09).

Ministerio de Igualdad 2008.

Documents are available in English at http://www.inmujer.migualdad.es/violencia-mujer/Observatorio.html

(accessed 28/10/09).

Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs

time period to evaluate a law that deals with a very complex structural problem. In any

case, the limitations in the policy design and in the implementation of the 1/2004 Law do

not overshadow the advances of a law that has represented a milestone in the public

action to end violence against women in Spain.

3.2 Reconciliation of work and family life and care issues

Reconciliation of work and family life has entered the Spanish political agenda in the last

decade. Issues of reconciliation of work and family life in Spain have mainly been framed

as policies necessary for improving women’s employability in the labour market and for

protecting the family rather than for promoting greater gender equality and equal sharing

of care responsibilities between the sexes

. However, recent developments introduced

by the Equality Law 3/2007 on an individual right to paternity leave of two weeks and the

Law 9/2009 on the extension of the fathers’ leave to four weeks show some progress

towards a more equitable redistribution of roles between women and men.

The Popular Party, in government from 1996 to 2004, placed the issue of reconciliation of

work and family life on the agenda. The main aims of policies adopted in this period are

promoting an efficient labour market and protecting the family, but not always fostering

gender equality. The Law 39/1999

known as ‘Reconciliation Law’ was adopted to

transpose the EU Parental Leave Directive 96/34/EC. It advanced in aspects related to

maternity leave, but it failed to promote more equal gender roles in childcare. The lack of

an individual right to paternity leave in the 39/1999 Law, which disregarded indications

included in the EC directive, contributed to perpetuate women’s roles as main caregivers

and men as ‘secondary’ in the care of their children

. Women appeared to be the ones

who needed to reconcile work and family life, while men were not asked to do so. As part

of the Comprehensive Plan for Family Support (2001-2004), the government adopted a

tax measure through Law 46/2002

, which enables ‘working mothers’ (not fathers, and

not mothers who are unemployed or working in the underground economy) to receive a

subsidy of 100 euros per month for each child below 3 years of age. The increasing

political attention to the issue is also indicated by the inclusion, in the Third and the

Fourth Plan for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men (1997–2000 and 2003-

2006), of a section on reconciliation of work and family life.

The Zapatero government kept reconciliation high on the political agenda and presented

it as an issue of gender equality. It introduced a series of measures, such as the 2005

‘Plan Concilia’ to help Public Administration personnel reconcile their work and

personal/family life through the introduction of flexible working times and longer parental

leaves

. The greater steps towards a more equal sharing of gender roles in care were

taken by the Equality Law that introduced an individual right to two weeks of

paternity leave

. The recognition of the role of fathers in care issues represents

progress towards achieving a greater gender equality, despite the fact that the length of

Peterson 2007.

Ley 39/1999, de 5 de noviembre, para promover la conciliación de la vida familiar y laboral de las personas

trabajadoras.

Peterson 2007; Lombardo 2004.

Ley 46/2002, de 18 de diciembre, de reforma parcial del impuesto de la renta de las personas físicas

http://www.mpt.es/documentacion/iniciativas/mejora_de_la_administracion_general_del_estado/funcion_pu

blica/concilia.html (accessed 19/10/09).

The Law 2/2008 has extended the paternity leave to 20 days in case of birth or adoption of a child on the

part of large families or when there is a disabled person in the family.

Spanish policy on gender equality: relevant current legislation and policies

the leave and its non-binding character have been criticised by gender experts for being

‘a symbolic rather than substantial change’

. However, the right to paternity leave has

recently been extended to four weeks through the Law 9/2009 that will enter into

force on the 1

January 2011

with the aim of promoting men’s involvement in family

responsibilities. According to data of the Ministry of Equality, since the adoption of the

Equality Law, 80% of new fathers have benefited from the two weeks’ leave

. While the

Equality Law frames reconciliation as a matter of gender equality, the promotion of an

increased participation of women in the labour market is maintained as a key political

goal. Moreover, demographic concerns about the low birth-rates rates in Spain (fertility

rate was 1.40 in 2007, the lowest one was 1.16 in 1996)

have moved the government

in 2007 to adopt an assistentialist birth-promoting measure through the Law 35/2007,

that assigns a 2500 euro subsidy or tax deduction for every child born or adopted

Thus, while the government placed a greater emphasis on gender equality in dealing with

the issue of reconciliation of family and work, they maintained the former focus on the

labour market and the protection of families.

Care issues were introduced in the agenda with the approval in 2006 of the 39/2006 ‘Law

for the Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Attention to Persons in Situations of

Dependency’

. The so-called ‘Dependency Law’ was presented as the fourth pillar of

the Spanish welfare state as it assigned some state responsibility in the provision of care

for elderly, disabled, and dependent people

within the Spanish context, where public

spending on elderly and other recipients of care is below the EU average

. The

Dependency Law promotes the creation of public care services and introduces the option

of paying an allowance to the ‘non professional carer’, that is, the person who is caring

for dependent family members. However, the law does not change the reality that the

family remains the main agent responsible for care, while the state merely holds a

subsidiary role in care. Feminist organisations such as Asamblea Feminista have criticised

the 39/2006 Law not only because of the insufficient funding provided but also due to the

risk that the allowance for the family care-giver would maintain women (de facto the

main family carers

) in the traditional position of being those responsible for care

. The

implementation of the Dependency law has also been criticised for being uneven across

the different regions, with delays in some regions in the attribution of benefits

. Overall,

the law does not solve the problem that most of the work of care in Spain is either

performed by women for free

, or carried out by migrant domestic workers, mostly

Peterson 2008: 17.

Ley 9/2009, de 6 de octubre, de ampliación de la duración del permiso de paternidad en los casos de

nacimiento, adopción o acogida.

Ministerio de Igualdad 2009.

Eurostat 2009, Demographic changes: Total fertility rate.

Ley 35/2007, de 15 de noviembre, por la que se establece la deducción por nacimiento o adopción en el

IRPF y la prestación económica de pago único de la Seguridad Social por nacimiento o adopción.

Ley 39/2006, de 14 de diciembre, de promoción de la Autonomía Personal y Atención a las personas en

situación de dependencia.

Bustelo and Peterson 2007.

Social benefits for family and childcare was 1.2% of the GDP in Spain in 2006, while EU-27 average was

2.1%; public expenditure on elderly care in 2006 was 0.34% of Spanish GDP, while EU-27 average was 0.48%;

total public expenditure on social protection was 20.9% of GDP in Spain while EU-27 was 26.9% (Source:

Eurostat 2009).

According to data of the Ministry of Equality (2009), 83% of non professional care-givers are women.

López 2008.

El País 6/10/2009, www.elpais.com (accessed 6/10/2009).

Durán 2000; Carrasco 2006.

Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs

women, whose work is regulated by a Special Regime of social security that provides less

protection than that offered to other workers

. The reform of the Special Regime of

Domestic Workers, recently announced by the government, is currently under discussion

by different social actors

Despite the criticisms to care and reconciliation measures from the perspective of

advocates of a greater gender equality, Spanish policies on reconciliation of work and

family life show some progress towards the achievement of a greater gender equality.

3.3 Women’s political representation: parity government and the

‘40-60 share’

Over the last years, Spain has joined the ranks of states with a high number of women in

elected political positions. While until the end of the 1980s women made up about 6% of

the MPs in the Spanish national Parliament, during the 1990s their number rose to 15%,

reaching 28% in 2000, 36% in 2004, and 36.29% in 2008

. In some of the regional

parliaments, the percentage of women’s political representation in 2009 is higher than

40%

. Reasons for this increase can be related mostly to the introduction of voluntary

party quotas in the left-wing parties, and partly to the approval of a parity provision in

the 2007 Equality Law (see next paragraph), and the adoption, on the part of a number

of regional governments, of parity legal provisions that establish minimum shares for

women and men on candidate lists

. In addition to the struggle of female politicians

within political parties to promote gender equality in politics, especially from the left

the role of some male political leaders has been highlighted as crucial to bringing about

changes in women’s political representation

Progress for women’s political representation at the national level came in March 2004,

when Zapatero won the general elections and created the first parity government in

Spain, appointing an equal number of female and male Ministers (8 of each sex) and a

female Vice-President of Government. This decision was maintained when Zapatero

repeated his victory in the 2008 general elections, and the current government is

composed of 9 female Ministers and 8 male Ministers. However, below the ministerial

level only 4 out of the 17 Ministries respect a 40-60 percentage of women and men

among personnel of the General State Administration

. After the 2004 elections, the

number of women MPs reached 36% in the Congress (Lower House). To make such

changes more long-lasting, the government approved a provision in the Equality Law

that requires political parties to respect a share of no more than 60% and no less

Peterson 2008.

See INSTRAW-Spain http://www.un-instraw.org/es/md/global-care-chains/agenda-politica-espana.html

(accessed 27/10/09).

See Lombardo and Bustelo 2009.

Source: Woman’s Institute

http://www.inmujer.migualdad.es/mujer/mujeres/cifras/poder/poder_legislativo.htm

(accessed 5/10/09).

Source: Woman’s Institute http://www.inmujer.migualdad.es/mujer/mujeres/cifras/index.htm (accessed

9/10/09).

See www.democraciaparitaria.com (accessed 29/09/09). The Basque Law 4/2005 for Equality of Women and

Men is the most advanced regional law as concerns provisions on parity. It affects not only electoral laws, by

establishing an obligation that in electoral lists for the Basque Parliament there is to be a quota of at least 50%

of women (whereas other regional laws prescribe a 40-60 share), but also Government Law, making it

mandatory that the Cabinet be composed of at least 40% of representatives from each sex. See Elizondo and

Martínez 2007.

Valiente 2005.

Threlfall 2007.

See www.democraciaparitaria.com (accessed 9/10/09).

Spanish policy on gender equality: relevant current legislation and policies

than 40% of either sex on candidate lists in each group of five candidates

. The

Equality Law also establishes the principle of ‘balanced presence’ (40-60) for

appointments of people for leading positions within the General State Administration,

bodies involved in the selection of personnel, and boards of directors of companies where

the state is involved. Although in June 2007 the Popular Party took the provision on

parity to the Spanish Constitutional Court with the accusation of unconstitutionality, the

Constitutional Court, with its sentence of 29 January 2008, has rejected this claim, giving

its approval to the parity provision of the Spanish Equality Law.

However, the March 2008 general elections have shown a limited implementation of the

parity provision in the Equality Law, with a percentage of 36.29% female MPs (only

0.29% above the 36% reached in 2004), and a higher increase in the percentage of

female Senators (31.73% in 2008 and 25.96% in 2004)

. The small increase in the

number of elected women in the Parliament from 2004 to 2008 could be due to the fact

that political parties have placed female candidates in more disadvantageous positions on

the list, while giving male candidates better positions in order to favour their election (for

instance, in each group of five candidates, a woman opened and closed the list or two

women were placed at the end, while men were placed in central positions). We can draw

at least two conclusions from these electoral results. Firstly, they show that the legal

formula of 40-60% for each group of 5 candidates, without a provision regulating the

position of candidates on the list to ensure equal possibilities to be elected (the so called

‘zipper’ system that alternates a woman and a man on the list), could disadvantage

women. This is because parties tend to assign women the lowest proportion of

candidature, that is the 40%, and to place men in the higher ranks of the five top

positions in the list and women in the less favourable positions

. Secondly, they indicate

that, in spite of the undeniable achievements of a parity government and a 40-60 share,

more needs to be done to challenge the pervasiveness of patriarchal political cultures

embedded in existing institutional frameworks and to achieve an effective implementation

of the parity provision of the Equality Law.

The provision also applies to local elections in city councils with more than 5000 inhabitants.

See data of the Spanish Ministry of Interior http://www.mir.es/DGPI/Elecciones/index.html (accessed

12/10/09).

See Verge forthcoming.

Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs

CONCLUSIONS: SPAIN, FROM ‘LATECOMER’ TO ‘PIONEER’

IN GENDER EQUALITY POLICIES

From being a ‘latecomer’ in gender equality policies, Spain has moved, in three decades,

to becoming a country with a parity government, with a relatively good ranking in

women’s political representation (36%) among European countries, and with an avant-

garde Law against gender violence. Spain has consolidated its institutional framework

around gender equality policies at the national level with the creation of the Woman’s

Institute, an Equality Policies General Secretariat and a Ministry of Equality. It has

developed political strategies of equal opportunities, positive actions, and gender

mainstreaming. It has implemented gender equality policies through instruments such as

equality plans and, more recently, laws. It has adopted in 2007 an Equality Law which,

through the use of the three strategies mentioned, covers a wide range of issues, from

paternity leave to a more gender balanced political representation. This young ‘pioneer’ in

gender policies, however, has many challenges ahead. These include, among others, a

better implementation of the Laws on Gender Violence, Dependency, and Equality,

including an increase in the budgetary support for the laws, the introduction of a longer

and binding paternity leave so that men will more equally share care responsibilities with

women, the development of a universal and quality public care system for children and

dependants to discharge women from their main role of carers, the need to improve the

formulation and implementation of the parity provision of the Equality Law, a greater

participation of women’s organisations in policymaking, and a more systematic

implementation of positive actions and gender mainstreaming to ensure equality of

outcome in all social areas and gender equality in all public policies and processes.

See Lombardo and Bustelo 2009.

Spanish policy on gender equality: relevant current legislation and policies

REFERENCES

Bustelo, M. 2009. ‘Spain: intersectionality faces a strong gender norm’, International

Feminist Journal of Politics 11(4): 530-546.

Bustelo, M. and C. Ortbals. 2007. ‘The Evolution of Spanish State Feminism. A

Fragmented Landscape’ in J. Outshoorn and J. Kantola eds. Changing State

Feminism. Houndmills: Palgrave, pp. 201-223.

Bustelo, M., S. López and R. Platero. 2007. ‘La representación de la violencia contra las

mujeres como un asunto de género y un problema público en España’ in M.

Bustelo and E. Lombardo eds. Políticas de igualdad en España y en Europa.

Madrid: Cátedra, pp 67-96.

Bustelo, M. and E. Peterson. 2007. ‘The representation of domestic work(ers):

Intersections of gender, class, and nationality in the care debate in Spain: The

case of the new Dependency Law’, ECPR, Pisa, 6-8 September.

Carrasco, C. 2006. ‘La economía del cuidado, los estándares de vida y los presupuestos

públicos’ in M. De la Fuente and L. Ortiz eds. Els Pressupostos amb perspectiva de

gènere, repte per als governs locals, Barcelona: ICPS, pp 27-49.

Clavero, S. and M. Daly. 2004. ‘Spain: analysis of policy context and policies’. EQUAPOL

National Reports, http://www.equapol.gr/

(accessed 29/09/09).

Durán, M.A. 2000. ‘Uso del tiempo y trabajo no remunerado’. Revista de Ciencias

Sociales 18: 56-70, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República,

Montevideo.

Elizondo, A. and E. Martínez. 2007. ‘Ley Vasca para la igualdad de mujeres y hombres:

elaboración contenidos y balance’ in M. Lois and I. Diz eds. Mujeres, instituciones

y política. EGAP: Xunta de Galicia, pp 309-330.

Espirito Santo, A. et al. 2007. ‘Opera Report on Gender Training in All Countries’. QUING

unpublished report D29, www.quing.eu

(accessed 19/10/09).

Eurostat. 2009. Living conditions and welfare: Social protection; Demographic changes:

Total fertility rate http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu

(accessed 8/10/09).

Lombardo, E. 2004. La europeización de la política española de igualdad de género.

Valencia: Tirant Lo Blanch.

Lombardo, E. and M. Bustelo. 2009. ‘Promotion de l’égalité de genre en Espagne: de la

parité politique à la lutte contre les violences domestiques’. Informations sociales

151: 118-126.

López, S. 2008. ‘Spain: General Gender Equality Policies’. QUING unpublished report

D40, www.quing.eu

(accessed 8/10/09).

Ministerio de Igualdad. 2008. Informe Ejecutivo ‘Evaluación de la aplicación de la Ley

Orgánica 1/2004, de 28 de diciembre, de medidas de protección integral contra la

violencia de género’, http://www.migualdad.es

(accessed 30/09/09).

Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs

Ministerio de Igualdad. 2009. ‘2 años de aplicación de la Ley orgánica 3/2007 de 22 de

marzo para la igualdad efectiva de mujeres y hombres’ Informe-balance,

http://www.migualdad.es

(accessed 30/09/09).

Peterson, E. 2007. ‘El género en los marcos interpretativos sobre la conciliación de la vida

familiar y laboral’ in M. Bustelo and E. Lombardo eds. Políticas de igualdad en

España y en Europa. Madrid: Cátedra, pp 35-66.

Peterson, E. 2008. ‘Framing care matters: Envisioning gender equality and the welfare

state in feminist theory and Spanish policy debates’, Umeå University, 12 June.

Threlfall, M. 2007. ‘Explaining Gender Parity in Spain: The Internal Dynamics of Parties’,

West European Politics 30 (5): 1068–95.

Valiente, C. 1995. ‘The Power of Persuasion: the Instituto de la Mujer in Spain’ in D. Stetson

and Amy G. Mazur eds. Comparative State Feminism. Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp

221-236.

Valiente, C. 2005. ‘The women’s movement, gender equality agencies and central-state

debates on political representation in Spain’ in J. Lovenduski ed. State feminism

and political representation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 174-194.

Verge, T. Forthcoming. ‘Gendering Representation in Spain: Opportunities and Limits of

Gender Quotas’. Journal of Women, Politics and Policy.