![Minister Albares addresses the UN Human Rights Council (2024).]()
Minister Albares addresses the UN Human Rights Council (2024).
Spain is a country deeply committed to human rights. The protection and promotion of human rights is an essential pillar of our foreign policy. Freedom, justice and peace are built on respect for the dignity and inalienable rights of all people. Spain contributes nationally and as a member of the European Union to the achievement of these objectives.
One such example of this commitment to the protection of human rights is the 2nd National Human Rights Plan, which the Government approved in June 2023 for a period of five years (2023-2027)
. Its aim is to continue advancing the rights agenda, ensuring the full exercise of rights and promoting new progress in equality, freedom and social justice both within and beyond our borders.
Spain on the United Nations Human Rights Council
The election of Spain to become a member for the third time of the Human Rights Council (HRC) for the period 2025-2027 will give renewed impetus to our commitment to the defence of human rights and to the multilateral system for the protection and promotion of human rights.
The Council, based in Geneva, has as its primary function the protection and promotion of human rights at the global level, a prerequisite for peace, security and sustainable development.
Death Penalty
The fight against the death penalty is a priority of Spanish foreign policy. Spain ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1991, aimed at abolishing the death penalty. Spain rejects the death penalty in all circumstances, regardless of the crime committed, as a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, contrary to the dignity of the human being, that has no proven deterrent effects on criminal behaviour, and prevents reparation in case of miscarriage of justice.
In the multilateral sphere, we can highlight the creation of the International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDC) in 2010, based in Madrid and composed of some twenty independent personalities from all regions of the world. Spain, together with the European Union and the ICPC, has been working to ensure that other countries reduce the number of crimes punishable by capital punishment, commute death sentences or reform their laws so that judges have the option of imposing custodial sentences instead of death sentences, thus moving towards abolition.
Gender equality
The promotion of equality between women and men is a distinctive feature and an internal rule of Spanish external action. The II National Human Rights Plan promotes the fight against inequality and gender violence within and beyond our borders, and incorporates numerous measures framed within the framework of Feminist Foreign Policy.
Spain participates actively, both within the European Union and the United Nations system, in setting policies and creating instruments and institutions to combat gender discrimination, as well as defending the rights of women and girls. Spain also contributes to the implementation of different instruments in this field, such as:
![International Women's Day celebrated on the streets of Huesca on 8 March 2025.]()
International Women's Day celebrated on the streets of Huesca on 8 March 2025.
Combating Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
The fight against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is one of the priorities of Spanish foreign policy with regard to human rights. At the multilateral level, Spain is considered a driving force in the recognition and defence of the rights of LGBTI people.
Spain is a member of the Equal Rights Coalition (ERC), the United Nations LGBTI Core Group, and the Council of Europe's European Network of LGBTI Focal Points. Spain has also joined the Global Equality Fund, a public-private partnership that supports civil society programmes that promote and protect the human rights of LGBTI people around the world.
Spain has actively supported the renewal of the Mandate of the UN Independent Expert on Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). As part of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review, which all member countries of the United Nations are subject to, Spain also asks questions and makes recommendations to other States to raise awareness and denounce the violence and discrimination suffered by LGBTI people.
Persons with disabilities
Spain identifies the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities as a priority, advocating the approach of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), the adoption of which has meant a paradigm shift in the field by promoting inclusion and creating a binding legal tool.
This commitment was reflected during the last Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the launching of the European Centre for Accessibility "AccessibleEU,” the European Congress on Accessibility, held in Madrid, and the High Level Meeting on Disability in Palma de Mallorca, where a declaration on the right to vote and accessibility in political participation was agreed. Similarly, Spain promoted the creation of a European Disability Card and a European Parking Card for people with disabilities.
![Dancers with Down's syndrome from José Galán's Integrated Flamenco Company, perform on the occasion of the International Day of]()
Dancers with Down's syndrome from José Galán's Integrated Flamenco Company, perform on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities The human right to water and sanitation
The recognition of the right to safe drinking water and sanitation is one of the main goals of Spanish foreign policy on human rights and development cooperation.
In 2006, Spain and Germany launched a joint initiative for the recognition of this right within the United Nations: In this regard, they argue that the right to safe drinking water and sanitation is indispensable for the realisation of other human rights, and an essential component of the right to an adequate standard of living.
Through the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Spain undertakes a multitude of initiatives to guarantee access to water and sanitation systems. A prominent example is the Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbean, which has already benefited 4.3 million people.
Human rights defenders
Promoting the legitimate activities carried out by Human Rights defenders and their protection is another priority of the Spanish Government's foreign policy in the area of human rights. In 1995, Spain established a national mechanism to offer temporary refuge of human rights defenders at risk because of their activities, in collaboration with other national entities and civil society.
This programme, in collaboration with other regional and municipal programmes, as well as civil society, has provided refuge to almost 463 defenders at risk since its launch. In 2023, the programme received a total of 29 HRDs, half of whom were women, demonstrating Spain's firm commitment to promoting the work of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and protecting them when faced with situations of heightened vulnerability