Spain ratifies the ILO Convention on Maternity Protection

© Alioune Ndiaye / ILO

Geneva (ILO News) - On Thursday, 11 December 2025, Spain deposited the instrument of ratification of the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) with the ILO. Spain is the 45th ILO Member State to ratify this instrument and the one with the highest number of ratifications to date.

Convention No. 183, supplemented by Recommendation No. 191, takes a comprehensive approach to maternity protection, enabling working women to successfully balance their family and work lives. These instruments, inextricably linked to the great human rights declarations mentioned in the preamble to Convention No. 183, respond to three essential imperatives: to continue promoting the equality of all women in the workforce, to provide protection for pregnancy, and to promote the health and safety of mothers and children.

When depositing the instrument of ratification at the ceremony held at the ILO headquarters in Geneva, Ms. Yolanda Díaz Pérez, Second Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister of Labour and Social Economy, acknowledged that "ratification consolidates Spain's position as the country that has ratified the most international instruments, with a total of 140 after this ratification, an example of our commitment to universalising the protection of workers' labour rights". She also stressed that "the ratification of Convention No. 183 is a consequence of the importance for Spain of facilitating the reconciliation of family and professional life for parents and carers, and represents a further step towards a more co-responsible society". 

Finally, the Vice-President pointed out that "in Spain, we have recently extended birth and care leave for both the biological mother and the non-biological parent to 19 weeks and, in the case of single parents, to 32 weeks, which ensures that children are equally protected regardless of the type of family they grow up in, with special attention to the vulnerability of those born into single-parent families." 

Upon receiving the instruments of ratification, the Director-General highlighted Spain's ratification of Convention No. 183 in 2025, the year that marks the 25th anniversary of the adoption of this important instrument, and noted that this ratification sends a clear signal to other Member States, encouraging them to continue their efforts to ensure comprehensive maternity protection.

The Director-General also stressed the importance of the recently adopted Resolution on decent work and the care economy, which urges governments and employers' and workers' organisations to address the unequal distribution of paid and unpaid work between men and women; to promote women's economic inclusion and autonomy beyond caregiving by changing social norms and stereotypes; and to ensure comprehensive maternity protection, caregiving leave and protections for all workers with caregiving responsibilities.

According to the Director-General, Spain's policies have long reflected these principles, guaranteeing more weeks of leave than required by Convention No. 183 and Recommendation No. 191, and translating the vision of the Resolution into concrete measures, which sets a powerful example for other countries to follow.

To date, Spain has ratified 140 Conventions and 1 Protocol (of which 88 are in force). For more information, see the NORMLEX profile.