EJE&CON, the Spanish Association of Executives and Directors, warns of the dangers posed by the end of the deadline - this June - to implement the Parity Law in the Ibex 35, when it will be necessary to ensure that at least 40% of non-executive directors are women.
They point out that "the data shows uneven progress. The IBEX 35 is already around 41–42% female representation on its boards, while the rest of the listed companies remain at lower levels (36–37%) and large unlisted companies barely reach 19.6%."
But they remind us that "the requirement, derived from Directive (EU) 2022/2381 and its transposition into Organic Law 2/2024, is not limited to the composition of boards. It requires changes to selection processes, which must be objective, transparent, and free from bias, prioritising the underrepresented gender on equal terms." Thus, in their opinion, there is "an increasing risk for the Spanish business fabric: achieving the objectives without having transformed the model of access to power in organisations."
According to the association, "in many companies, progress towards parity is being supported by a small group of female directors who hold multiple mandates, which limits the real expansion of available talent and delays the renewal of the system. Added to this is another worrying fact: the decline in the presence of women in senior management, which has fallen to 18.5% in 2026, jeopardising the pipeline necessary to sustain change in boards."
