María Reglero (Ep. #1)

Gender Lupa

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María Reglero (Ep. #1)

From La Manada to Self-ID: Spain’s Gender Debate

Annette Pacey

Mar 08, 2025

Transcript

Episode Summary:

In this first episode of Gender Lupa, I’m joined by María Reglero, a Spanish feminist with extensive experience in international human rights and women’s rights.

We explore the unique aspects of Spanish political culture, the achievements of Spanish feminism, and the rise of identity politics in Spain. María shares insights into how the political party Podemos sought to harness public outrage over the La Manada rape case to instrumentalise the Spanish women’s movement. We introduce Spain’s national self-ID law and point to a few of the far-reaching consequences for women’s rights. We also touch on the feminist organizations resisting these policies, the tensions over who gets to call themselves “feminist” and the backlash against feminism from the manosphere and the far right.

Guest info:

Maria Reglero is a Spanish feminist and women's rights independent consultant with 20 years' experience in senior advisory and project management roles from countries in East and Southern Africa, West and Central Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and South East Asia. Her expertise spans international human rights frameworks with a focus on women's rights, children's rights and equality between men and women.
You can follow Maria’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@unwokespain

Resources & Links:

Here are a few articles with details of some of the examples of negative consequences for women of self-ID laws and policies in Spain which we referred to in the episode. Some relate to the national Ley Trans self ID law and some to the laws and policies in Spain’s autonomous regions.

📌 Men changing their legal sex in order to avoid charges under the gender based violence law: https://reduxx.info/im-a-woman-now-spanish-man-changes-sex-to-female-in-apparent-effort-avoid-harsher-penalties-for-abusing-his-wife/

📌 Men changing their legal sex in order to benefit from special provisions for women in traditionally male dominated workplaces like the military: https://reduxx.info/spain-male-soldier-who-identifies-as-a-lesbian-sues-military-for-e50000-after-being-denied-access-to-womens-washrooms/

📌 Archive version of El Mundo Article (in Spanish) about Jonathan de Jesús Robaina Santana, who claimed a female gender identity after being charged with the brutal murder of his female cousin. Now convicted, he is in prison in the Canary Islands where he is undergoing gender transition related medical interventions, enjoys an individual cell, is officially called "Lorena" (the name of a woman he previously harassed) and is only searched by female prison officers. According to the article, the director of the prison signed an internal order that suggested he would be moved to a female prison unit when he completes his transition. Currently it is not known if Robaina is housed in the male or female unit because the prison argues that the law protects the privacy of the inmates. Maria mentioned in the episode that women's groups have been requesting this information. https://archive.ph/cjvNM#selection-565.112-565.145