In Spain, footballers are now employees like any other. After months of negotiations and a strike, clubs and unions signed the first collective agreement in the history of Spanish women's football this week, and one of the first in the world. The text establishes working conditions, still light years away from those of their male counterparts, but which lay a foundation: minimum salary of 16,000 euros gross annual, paid vacation, maternity leave or even guaranteed in the event of injury.
To be heard, the players had to go through a strike during first division games. " From that moment, the clubs took us seriously, " says David Aganzo, president of the Asociacion de futbolistas españoles (AFE), the main union in the sector, which has welcomed women since 2016. " The convention of the 'equality ', as the AFE calls it, now oversees the work of 340 players from sixteen teams. Considerable progress, according to young retiree Keka Vega: " Over fifteen years of career in the Spanish and English first divisions, I have only contributed five years ". This advance on the part of clubs whose annual budgets range between 900,000 and 5 million euros is part of the context of an increase in interest in women's football. Last year, more than 60,000 spectators attended the “ clasico femenino ” between Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona. The Mediapro group, which owns the television rights, even increased its contribution, from 2.2 to 3.3 million euros, per season.