Pedro Sánchez: "We cannot take a single step backwards" in the feminist struggle, "in the face of those who want to turn back the clock of time"

Prado Museum, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during his speech at the institutional event on the occasion of International Women's Day (Pool Moncloa / José Manuel Álvarez)

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has warned that, in the face of the threat, attacks and questioning that many of the achievements and values of feminism are suffering today, "we cannot take a single step backwards; there cannot be any hesitation", because "in the face of those who want to turn back the clock of time, we are not going to give an inch, not a second, in a struggle in which we are still only halfway there."

"To those who believe that we have already gone too far, we in the Government say that we are not going to stop, because we are only halfway there. We look back with immense gratitude to those who blazed that trail and we look forward with the ambition to reach new milestones that will consolidate Spain as what it already is: one of the world's leading bastions of feminism," he stressed.

He said this at the closing ceremony of the institutional act to mark International Women's Day at the Prado Museum, where he emphasised that this Government is "proudly feminist. In word and deed. Out of moral conviction, no doubt, as a matter of justice and dignity in this cause, but also because it is the smart thing to do" and "there is no more damaging decision for a country than not to be this way."

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and other representatives of the Executive, in the group photo of the institutional event on the occasion of International Women's Day | Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

In his opinion, "8 March is a day to reflect on how much we still have to do, but also to celebrate and vindicate all that we have achieved" and "how we have changed this country forever."

In this sense, Sánchez stressed that today in Spain "we are fighting the gaps that force a woman to choose between being a mother or a wife, those that force her to remain silent in the face of harassment, in a bar, in the street or at work." He also stressed that this Spain "no longer looks away in shame at this attack on democracy called sex-based violence" and "takes a stand against machismo so that shame changes sides." "It is the Spain that says 'only yes is yes'", the Spain that "breaks the glass ceilings, to the point of being the country in Europe with the highest percentage of women managers in large companies at more than 40%", and where "women are already in the majority in jobs linked to scientific and technical activities."

And all these rights, he explained, "have not fallen from the sky, they had to be fought for, one by one", until "Spain has become a global reference point for feminism", taking this fight to the Official State Gazette and making it law: the law on equal pay, the law on sexual freedom and the law on work-life balance, the president pointed out.

The Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo, speaks at the institutional event on the occasion of International Women's Day | Pool Moncloa / José Manuel Álvarez

The head of the Executive also used his speech to send a message to men, who should not "feel threatened when a woman advances." "Don't let the poison of toxic machismo slip through the window of resentment. Let us not listen to the propagandists of hate and toxic machismo on social networks and let us make the feminist cause our own cause and move forwards with them because if women move forwards, we move forwards, the whole of society moves forwards," he said. "Let us move forwards so that by the end of this decade, the labour force participation rate reaches 70%, so that the pay gap falls below 5% and so that half of the population has half of the political and economic power," he added.

Finally, Sánchez called for "taking to the streets" again tomorrow, 8 March, so that "your voice will sound louder, clearer, stronger. That voice is the voice of the majority that changed Spain forever and will help make it even better than it already is. Always forwards," he concluded.

The event was attended by the Third Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen; the Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande Marlaska; the Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría; the Minister for Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu; the Minister for Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez; the Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo, and the Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López.

Non official translation