Nadia Calviño: No photo - because she would have been the only woman

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Nadia Calviño: "We can no longer consider it normal that 50 percent of the population is not present at such events"

Photo: Eduardo Parra / dpa

She had already stood in front of a photo wall at a managers' forum - but when she noticed that only men would be seen next to her in the picture, the Spanish Minister for Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, withdrew.

For this action in favor of equal rights in the business world, the 53-year-old was praised online, by activists and also by colleagues in the left-wing government - but she was sharply criticized by top entrepreneurs.

With her refusal, Calviño made good on a promise she made in February at the Madrid Leaders Forum on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's first deputy announced at the time that she would never again take a picture or take part in debates where she was the only woman.

"We can no longer consider it normal that 50 percent of the population is not present at such events," she emphasized.

"Bravo!" tweeted the journalist and lawyer Ainhoa ​​Martínez, and the Minister for Equality Irene Montero wrote on the social network: "Well done, Vice President!".

The president of the Spanish business association CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, on the other hand, told journalists in Madrid: "It's just a fuss".

It is important that equality prevails in the company and not in the photos.

At CEOE, women are in the majority, "around 65 percent," he asserted.

Later, Nadia Calviño did allow herself to be photographed: together with the General Secretary of the Madrid Business Association.

ani/dpa