The Spanish left-wing government sees itself at the forefront of the feminist avant-garde.

Spain has "made history once again", said Equal Opportunities Minister Irene Montero after the vote in Parliament: "Only a yes is a yes" is the core sentence of the new law on sexual self-determination, which is linked to a change in criminal law.

Spain goes as far as few other western countries.

Only the express consent of the woman is decisive.

Without it, sexual contact is rape.

Hans Christian Roessler

Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb based in Madrid.

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"Consent is given only if it was given voluntarily through actions that clearly express the will of the person, taking into account the circumstances of the case," stipulates the law, which at the same time abolishes the more leniently punishable offense of sexual abuse .

Intimidation and violence no longer have to be characteristics of a rape, which can result in imprisonment of up to 15 years.

Another aggravating feature of the crime is the use of substances that override the victim's will, which was previously considered abuse.

Not only assaults will be punished in the future, but also sexual harassment on the street.

Advertising for prostitution and pornography will be banned in the future.

The left-wing coalition increases the pace

The new law is also a reaction to a gang rape in July 2016 during the fiesta in Pamplona: Five men who called themselves "La Manada" (The Pack) were initially only convicted of abusing an eighteen-year-old girl because, according to the judge had not resisted.

This caused great outrage in Spain.

Thousands demonstrated.

The Supreme Court eventually intervened and the prison sentences were increased.

The draft of the left-wing minority government met with 201 votes in favor in parliament.

Only the conservative People's Party (PP) and the right-wing populist Vox party rejected him.

The PP criticizes that it reverses the burden of proof and invalidates the constitutional presumption of innocence.

On Friday, the conservative newspaper “ABC” accused the Minister for Equal Opportunities of making men “by law suspected criminals”: ​​feminists had pushed through an “ideological commissariat” reminiscent of the Inquisition.

The government emphasizes that it is not the defense but the prosecution who must prove in court that the sexual contact was not consensual.

Prostitution was originally supposed to be abolished on Thursday evening according to the will of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Party (PSOE).

But there was a dispute with junior partner Podemos about this.

In order not to jeopardize the new law on sexual self-determination, the socialists now want to abolish prostitution with their own draft law.

A year and a half before the end of the legislative period, the left-wing coalition is stepping up the pace to pass more laws.

Abortion rights are to be liberalized and the "Trans" law to come into force.

For a gender change, only two declarations at intervals of a few months before the registry office will then be sufficient.