On International Women's Day, the CSD calls for sport to be a space that offers full equality of opportunity.

• Aauri Bokesa, Ana Ortega ‘Furia’, Eva Moral, María Vicente and Patricia García have voiced the situation of women in Spanish sport in an event organized by the CSD on the occasion of March 8.

• For the first time, the number of female licences in our country is above one million, although they represent 25% of the total. “This shows that there is still a lot to be done,” said Bárbara Butragueño, who, however, stressed that “the dynamics of these years – in 2018 the number of female licenses was 888,617 – makes us convinced of the role that sport can play in helping to crystallize social changes that we believe are necessary.”

• "The obligation of public authorities and a fair and well-ordered society is to achieve equality between men and women," said CSD President José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes.

Madrid, 8 March 2025.- The Higher Council of Sports (CSD) commemorated this Saturday, 8 March, the International Women’s Day with an act of reflection and claim about the role of women in sport.

The event has allowed to expose the advances in equality and highlight the barriers that still remain to be overcome through a colloquium between the athletes Aauri Bokesa, Ana Ortega ‘Furria’, Eva Moral, María Vicente and Patricia García, who have given voice to maternity, have defended the diversity of bodies and have demanded greater visibility for their achievements.

They have also shown how sport can become a courageous tool for women’s empowerment, also claiming a greater presence of women in leadership positions. In addition, they stressed the importance that the creation of benchmarks has in combating the abandonment of sport at an early age.

“The victories of the athletes are victories of society against the biases, against the stereotypes and against the obstacles that women continue to face,” said Assistant Director-General of Women and Sport, Bárbara Butragueño, who has also incited the need to make the athletes visible “to bring more women, adolescents and girls to sports practice”.

One of the main indicators of equality in sport is the number of licences. In Spain, there are more women with a federal license than ever before, having passed the million mark for the first time in 2023, although this figure represents 25% of the total.

“That shows that there is still a lot to be done,” said Bárbara Butragueño, “but the dynamics of these years – in 2018 the number of female licenses was 888,617 – makes us convinced of the role that sport can play in helping to crystallize social changes that we believe are necessary.”

In the same vein, the CSD president, José Manuel Rodríguez, stressed during the closing of the event the agency’s commitment “to promoting equality through sport” and to the development of women’s sport. “Nicolas de Condorcet said that the worst violation of human rights is committed against half the population. The obligation of the public authorities and a fair and well-ordered society is to achieve equality between men and women,” said Rodríguez Uribes.

The president of the CSD has also expressed his rejection of “the reactionary wave that is normalising in Europe and the world.” “We have to make a pedagogical effort, as Aauri Bokesa, Ana Ortega, Eva Moral, María Vicente and Patricia García have done today through five testimonies with which they have transmitted light,” he said.

The event was also attended by Alba Bautista, who has offered an exhibition of rhythmic gymnastics and ‘Xak’ of the Torre, Lucas López Laso and Lola Rodríguez, three members of the national breaking team who have represented the struggle of women in sport.

The CSD’s commitment to equality

To promote equality through sport, the CSD annually offers Spanish sports federations support for the development of Women and Sport programmes. These grants have become a fundamental pillar in the promotion of women's sport and have experienced since their start-up in 2007 - when the endowment was EUR 330,000 - a significant increase in the budget and in the number of beneficiary federations, consolidating their positive impact on the national sports ecosystem.

Thus, the data reveal an investment in the Women and Sport Programme of €12.6 million between 2018 and 2025. As a result, in the last five years (2021-2025) the amount earmarked for this grant has been set at EUR 1,800,000. This historic peak represents a 50% increase over the years 2018, 2019 and 2020, when this aid to Spanish sports federations was €1,200,000.

In addition, the CSD is also stimulating public-private partnership. In this sense, the Women’s Universe programme stands out, an event of exceptional public interest that since 2020 has allowed more than 50 million euros to be injected into women’s sport.

Another decisive bet of the Spanish Government has been the professionalization of the First Women’s Football Division. The CSD has earmarked EUR 39.5 million for the implementation of this process, called to be the spearhead of all female sport in Spain.

The new Sport Act, adopted in December 2022, is also contributing to the introduction of equality improvements. The text states that Spanish sports federations and professional leagues must have a protocol of prevention and action for situations of discrimination, abuse or sexual harassment and harassment on grounds of sex or authority. In addition, they are also obliged to draw up a specific plan for conciliation and co-responsibility with specific protection measures in cases of maternity and lactation.