Female empowerment is flourishing in Spain. The newspaper El Mundo has been publishing a special issue every year since 2014 with a list of the five hundred most influential Spanish women. It is a kind of vade mecum of powerful women. Of course, there is room for Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano. A woman who rose from being a famous newsreader to become the Queen of Spain occupies one of the traditionally most important posts. Yet she stands firmly in the shadow of her husband King Felipe VI. Together they have indeed modernized the royal house somewhat compared to Juan Carlos and Sofia. Yet no real innovation has taken place. Perhaps that time will come when Crown Princess Leonor de Borbón y Ortiz will one day ascend the throne.
Politically, Spain also has a number of strong women in senior positions within the new government of the socialist PSOE and the far left Podemos parties. The most prominent of them is Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo. She deals with issues such as ‘Equality’. At present, she is still one step lower than the male prime minister Pedro Sánchez. His government would only have been genuinely innovative if both had reversed their roles. Spain may have to wait a while before it will be governed by a woman for the first time in modern history.
Street smart
Next we turn to the most wealthy Spanish women. Sandra Ortega Mera is by far number one here with an estimated fortune of €6 billion. Nevertheless, she is best known as the eldest daughter of one of the richest men in the world: Amancio Ortega. This entrepreneur from Galicia, chairman of the board of the Inditex Group, is said to be worth about €80 billion himself. He amassed his fortune with clothing brands such as Bershka, Stradivarius, Pull & Bear, Lefties and Zara. On the one hand, by keeping the entire production chain under his control. On the other, by constantly innovating. Still, Ortega runs a traditional company rather than an innovative one.
In any case, Spain is not known as a country of innovation. Although economically it is among the leaders in Europe, it isn’t even among the first twenty in the Global Innovation Index rankings. There are several reasons for this. For example, Spain is mostly made up of small and medium sized companies where the focus is primarily on making a profit.
Furthermore, on average much less money is spent on research, development and innovation than in other European countries. Maybe this is where Spanish women can step out from behind the shadows of men. Take Lola Garralda for instance. She is one of the founders of the innovative Pentagrom app, which has added another dimension to music education. She herself puts it this way to the newspaper El Referente: “More and more women will quietly go into business. There will come a time when it will be absurd to refer to women entrepreneurs. Just like you don’t refer to men that way now either.”
Read also: The Spanish start-up of the month August, Método Sancal, is led by a woman as well.
