Spain

One of the challenges facing local governments—and institutional politics in general—is reversing the historically negligible presence of women in political parties and administrations.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday announced a gender equality law that will require more equal representation of women and men in politics, business and other spheres of public life.

Spain’s government minister for economic affairs is making a stand for gender equality, saying she won’t take part in any more events or official group photographs where she is the only woman present.

The Socialist leader hopes the changes will help focus on the economic recovery and smooth thorny issues such as Catalan independence before Spaniards vote in the next election.

When Spanish deputy Clara Campoamor demanded women’s right to vote in a famous speech made on October 1, 1931, she was just one of three female members of Congress.

Spain’s new parliament, sworn in on Tuesday, has the largest share of women in any European legislature, no small achievement for a country still reinventing itself four decades after the end of a right-wing, traditionalist dictatorship.

Do two of Europe's most recent elections signal a new trend on the continent?

Spain's new Socialist government announced Wednesday a female-dominated Cabinet, including women appointed to key positions overseeing the national economy, finance and defense.