By the end of 2022, Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) raised the required share of women on corporate boards to 40 percent. At that moment, the female presence across the Ibex 35 stood at 37.4 percent, still about 2.6 points below the 40 percent target set by the Good Governance Act. Six months later, boardroom data compiled by WomenCEO showed that only six female executives remained short of the minimum, with the overall rate at 39 percent. As of July 1, 2023, 171 of the 438 Ibex 35 executives were women serving on boards.
Among the 35 Ibex 35 companies, 19 have already met or surpassed the 40 percent threshold for women on boards. Cellnex leads the field with 53.8 percent female representation, followed closely by Aena at 53.3 percent and Redeia at 50 percent. Other top performers include Mapfre at 46.7 percent and Acciona Energía, Amadeus, Bankinter, IAG, and Inditex, each at 45.5 percent. On the less favorable end, four companies fail to reach 30 percent female representation on their boards, with Rovi at just 16.7 percent. WomenCEO notes a notable decline in the share of female directors since December 2022, highlighting Fluidra (23.1 percent), Unicaja (27.3 percent), and Sacyr (28.6 percent).
There are corporates actively working to increase female representation in leadership roles. Acciona and Colonial are aiming for 40 percent, currently at 38.5 percent, while Indra stands at 37.5 percent. Naturgy still needs to improve by about 10 percentage points, and Telefónica, Solaria, Merlin Properties, and Ferrovial are each at 33.3 percent.
Insufficient
Although the rise in female directors on Ibex 35 boards is noticeable, data does not show whether parity exists in senior management at the same pace. By the end of May, the CNMV found the presence of women in senior management and executive roles to be insufficient, a situation reflected in the end-of-2022 figure of 21.73 percent. In 2022, female managers occupied 23.90 percent of registered executive positions, down from 43.68 percent in 2021. The regulator regards it as strategic to develop policies that advance boardroom diversity and include women in positions of responsibility, particularly at senior levels.
The number of female executive directors remains markedly low, at around 6.74 percent. In the first half of the year, the Ibex 35 index saw changes in several presidents and executive directors, yet three chairpersons remained in top roles: Ana Botín at Santander, Marta Ortega at Inditex, and Beatriz Corredor at Redeia. The CEO position at Bankinter is held by María Dolores Dancausa.
The European Commission approved a directive at the end of last year requiring publicly listed companies to reach a 40 percent share of female non-executive directors or 33 percent of the total. Spain has a draft organic law on equal gender representation in decision-making bodies, approved in March to transpose the directive. In Spain, the law will mandate access to 40 percent female representation on boards of large corporations, as well as on other corporate bodies and professional bodies, with election nominations conducted via zippered lists and governance through constitutional bodies.