The number of women on the boards of directors of large French companies has steadily increased in recent years. In the case of CAC 40 companies—the French equivalent of the IBEX 35—the progress is remarkable: while 6.3% of executive committee members were women in 2008, this figure rose to 28.81% in 2025, according to a study by the Skema business school. However, women's presence in senior management positions remains a minority, and parity is still a long way off. The increase in female executives is explained by the quotas imposed by the French government. On March 1st, it became mandatory for companies with more than 1,000 employees to have at least 30% women on their management and executive committees. The so-called Rixain Law—which, according to experts cited by the French press, has no equivalent in Western countries—also establishes that by 2029 the percentage of female directors must reach 40%. In Spain, the parity law will also require large companies to have 40% female representation on their boards of directors by June of this year, but the regulation only affects companies listed on the IBEX 35. The French law goes further, affecting all large companies (around 1,500) and stipulating fines of up to 1% of their payroll for companies that do not comply. The French government has not yet released data on compliance with the regulation, but according to the barometer of the French Institute of Directors (IFA), the 120 largest listed French companies will have 30% female directors by 2025. In 2021, female representation was only 22%. No data is available for the other companies.

Since the last legislature, feminist demands have had their own department in the Government, and since its creation, the proposals of the department headed by Tània Verge have occupied headlines, appearances and even controversies - such as the use of totis–. Now, with the new department headed by Eva Menor, the media spotlight on the regional ministry has been reduced. Although the executive maintains many of the measures initiated by the previous team, communication – and also some new measures – tends to take a backseat. This is a change that has also occurred in the Spanish government: from the rise of Irene Montero of Podemos to Ana Redondo of the PSOE, who in just the last few weeks, almost two years after taking office, has been in the eye of the storm due to the anti-abuse bracelets.

An error in the restraining order control system left the location data of many individuals investigated and convicted for domestic violence crimes inaccessible, which would have been key to proving violations of these protection orders. The effects of this, warns the Attorney General's Office, have been noted in "a large number of provisional dismissals or acquittals." The incident that occurred last year affected both cases that were in the investigation phase and were ultimately closed, as well as trials in which, due to lack of evidence, a violation of the restraining order could not be convicted.

The approval of same-sex marriage twenty years ago represented the achievement of a civil right for the LGBTI community, the "normalization" of same-sex couples, and even more so for lesbian women. This is emphasized by activist and artist Alpe Conceptes, who since he was a teenager during the late Franco era had been active in the Barcelona scene—where he met those who were the great figures in the community's struggle—and who, under Dutch law, had formalized his union with his male partner before a notary in 1910, a ceremony that ended with a family meal. Years later, in 2000, the couple separated and returned to the notary to rewrite their respective wills. At that time, same-sex marriage was not on the social agenda, and Llucià Ainsa lived her homosexuality behind closed doors, far from LGBTI demands and struggle.

I compulsively read an article in the magazine Science from last week, which arrived via email from across the Atlantic. As I read on, my eyes bulged, and by the time I finished, the pressure on my eyes had tears streaming down my cheeks. I wiped them away and wrote. I wanted to share it. And here I am.

Every three years since 2003, the report She Figures The European Commission challenges me with a question: Can Europe aspire to lead global innovation if it doesn't tap into all of its talent? The 2024 edition, published a few weeks ago, confirms that gender equality in research and innovation (R&I) is advancing in fits and starts: there is progress, yes, but the gaps are as wide as they are urgent. And the title of the report is already, in itself, a declaration of intent.She" is actually an acronym that originally stood for Statistics in Higher Education (higher education statistics) that has evolved to encompass the entire R&I ecosystem, whether academic, business, or government. And there's the play on words: She Figures It's not only translated as "her figures," but also as "she figures." That is, women participate, they contribute... or they should. But the reality remains harsher than the poetic meaning of the report's title.

Trump points to new human groups that must be annihilated every day, and he is no longer content, as in his first term, with bluffing and naming the biblical plagues that will fall upon them, but is now ready to unleash hell upon us. We have known many bluffs throughout history, it is not an innovation, but we simply did not expect that this could happen now. Suddenly, we see that this is not the case, that everything can go backwards or collapse, that, in a word, everything can get worse, as has happened other times in history.

Trump points to new human groups that must be annihilated every day, and he is no longer content, as in his first term, with bluffing and naming the biblical plagues that will fall upon them, but is now ready to unleash hell upon us. We have known many bluffs throughout history, it is not an innovation, but we simply did not expect that this could happen now. Suddenly, we see that this is not the case, that everything can go backwards or collapse, that, in a word, everything can get worse, as has happened other times in history.

March 8 will be packed with the usual gender-related data. There is no need to be too imaginative: the persistence of wage gaps, the lower presence of women in positions of responsibility and the higher rates of poverty among women. There will be talk of the need for more policies, education and awareness.

The percentage of female officers in the Catalan police, known as the Mossos d'Esquadra, does not reach 22%. And yet it is the highest female representation within the Generalitat's three emergency and security forces: women make up 13% of rangers and only 2% of the Fire Brigade. Despite the increase in the presence of women in recent years, the Department of the Home Affairs calculates that without adopting any measures it would take 45 years to achieve parity in the police force, while there would not be parity among rangers and fire fighters until 2101 and 2144, respectively. For this reason, the Department has decided to modify the next calls for vacancies and reserve 40% for women.

The food sector is still far from achieving parity. This is the main conclusion of the study prepared by the association 50 a 50, formed by more than a hundred women managers, entrepreneurs or freelancers, after analysing fifty companies and representative organisations in this field in Spain. Specifically, the report focuses on analysing the presence of female managers on boards of directors and management committees.