Spanish Fashion Companies Near Gender Parity on Boards

Spain's fashion giants race to meet 2025 gender balance deadlines

By next June, Spain's listed companies will be legally required to have gender-balanced boards. While most of the country's 35 largest listed firms remain far from parity, the Spanish fashion industry is steadily closing the gap. Currently, 56% of board members at the ten largest Spanish fashion companies are men, compared to 44% women.

Starting June 30, Spain's major listed companies must ensure "balanced representation" on their boards, with at least 40% of seats held by the underrepresented gender, as mandated by the parity law. The rule will extend to all listed firms a year later, while large unlisted Spanish companies must comply by June 30, 2029.

According to calculations by Modaes, the ten largest Spanish fashion companies by revenue—only two of which are publicly traded (Inditex and Puig)—have a combined total of 82 board members. Of these, 46 are currently men and 36 are women.

Mayoral stands out as the company with the highest proportion of women on its board. As stated in the Andalusian firm's 2024 annual report, its governing body consists of 12 members: five men and seven women. However, the company does not disclose the board members' identities.

Tous follows closely. The jewelry company's board comprises nine members: four men and five women. Though women now hold the majority, the board was fully gender-balanced until recently, when Carlos Soler-Duffo's departure and Susana Sánchez's appointment as CEO shifted the balance. Alba Tous, Rosa Tous, Laura Tous, and Núria Garrós also serve as board members.

At Inditex, parity has already been achieved. The board of Spain's largest fashion group consists of ten members, evenly split with five men and five women. The female directors include Marta Ortega, Flora Pérez, Denise Patricia Kingsmill, Pilar López, and Belén Romana.

Puig lags further behind. The fragrance and fashion group's 13-member board includes nine men and four women, placing female representation at just over 30%. Ángeles García-Poveda, Christine A. Mei, Tina Müller, and María Dolores Dancausa are among the women on the board.

At Mango, women remain a minority, though progress has been made in the past year. The ten-member board includes eight men and two women, leaving female representation at 20%. Margarita Salvans and Helena Helmersson are the company's two female directors.

Tendam also falls short of the 40% threshold. Its eight-member board consists of five men and three women, with female representation at 37.5%. The women on the board are Samia Bouazza, Marta Martínez, and Elisa Gómez.

Sociedad Textil Lonia exceeds parity. The Galician group's eight-member board—five individual seats and three representing corporate entities—includes five women and three men, giving women 62.5% of the seats.

A similar situation exists at Bimba y Lola, where the nine-member board includes four men and five women, resulting in a 55.5% female majority.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is Desigual. The Catalan company's three-member board consists entirely of men, with no women, placing it far from the parity targets set by the new regulations.

Women Earn 29% Less in Retail

Lower wages and more precarious jobs for women remain the norm. The gender pay gap persists, according to a report by the CCOO union marking Equal Pay Day. The union estimates that women in Spain earn 20% less than men on average: €28,627 for men compared to €23,469 for women in 2024. Among foreign workers, the wage disparity widens to 23%.

The report also highlights that some economic sectors face a far wider gender pay gap. In retail—which includes the fashion industry—the disparity reaches 29%. On average, a male employee in retail earns €27,244, while a female worker receives just €21,131 for the same job.

The manufacturing sector, which encompasses textiles, apparel, and footwear, also exceeds the national average in gender-based wage inequality. Here, women earn an average of €27,029, compared to €32,604 for men—a 21% gap in favor of male workers.

Trade union CCOO describes the gender pay gap as a "structural flaw in Spain's labor market," not only because women consistently earn less but also because the issue is compounded by the fact that 75% of part-time workers are women.