CONFIRMED: Spain's Socialists alter rape law to fix loopholes

Spain’s governing Socialists on Thursday secured parliamentary approval to amend a landmark law aimed at fighting sexual violence to fix a loophole that let some offenders reduce their sentences.

The vote has highlighted bitter divisions within Spain’s left-wing coalition ahead of regional and municipal elections in May, as well as a year-end general election, which surveys suggest the right will win.

The amendment made changes to the “Only yes means yes” law, which reformed the criminal code to define all non-consensual sex as rape.

But the law, which came into force in October, paradoxically ended up reducing penalties for certain types of sexual crimes, freeing more than 100 offenders and letting almost 1,000 others secure reduced sentences, court figures show.

READ MORE: Spain's govt moves ahead with reforms to backfiring sexual consent law

Thursday’s amendment essentially toughens some of the penalties that had been lowered by the law by reintroducing a clause relating to violence, intimidation or overriding the victim’s will.

It passed by 233 votes in favour to 59 against and four abstentions in the 350-seat parliament. It now moves to the Senate, where it is expected to pass without issue.

Although backed by the right-wing opposition, the amendment enraged Podemos, the Socialists’ hardline left-wing coalition partner, which holds the equality ministry and had championed the legislation.

“Today is a sad day, the hardest I’ve experienced in this parliament since becoming a minister,” said Equality Minister Irene Montero, who has blamed the problem on sexist judges misinterpreting the law.

“This is not a step forward but a step back in terms of women’s rights,” she said.

Change of focus

Before the new law took effect, rape victims had needed to prove they were subjected to violence or intimidation.

Without that, the offence was classed as “sexual abuse” and carried lighter penalties than rape.

The issue was at the heart of a notorious 2016 gang rape of an 18-year-old woman by five men at the Pamplona bull-running festival.

The men were initially convicted of sexual abuse and not rape, sparking mass nationwide protests. The Supreme Court eventually overturned the verdict in 2019, convicting all five of rape.

What the new law did was to drop the lesser charge of sexual abuse and class all violations as sexual assault, carrying stiffer penalties.

The aim was to shift the focus away from the victims’ resistance to a woman’s free and clearly expressed consent.

In grouping all violations as sexual assault, the range of penalties was widened to include all possibilities under that single term.

That meant reducing the minimum and the maximum punishments in certain cases.

In Spain, sentences can be modified retroactively if a change in the penal code benefits the convicted.

READ MORE: Over 100 sex offenders released by flawed Spanish consent law

Intransigence and an apology

To close the loophole, Thursday’s reform introduces new, heavier penalties for offences involving violence or intimidation — concepts that were removed from the original law, which focused solely on explicit consent.

The decision to once again include violence or intimidation drew fierce opposition from Podemos, which argued that such a move reimposed a painful burden of proof on the victim, and undermined the central concept of consent.

Following months of bitter exchanges between Podemos and the Socialists, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had little choice but to seek the support of the right-wing opposition Popular Party to push through the changes.

Aware of the potentially devastating impact of such a loophole in an election year, Sánchez has pushed for rapid reforms of the legislation, and on Sunday he apologised to the victims.

“I don’t think any lawmaker, even those from parties who voted against the ‘Only yes means yes’ law, would agree with lowering sexual offenders’ sentences,” he told El Correo newspaper.

“That’s why I am asking for forgiveness.”