The Spanish MPs they approved a law today which provides “menstrual leave” for women, an unprecedented measure for Europe which, according to the left-wing government, aims to break a taboo.

“It’s a historic day,” he tweeted the Minister of Equality Irene Monteroa member of the radical left Podemos party allied to the Socialists in government.

With this text, approved by 185 votes in favor, 154 against and three abstentions, Spain becomes the first country in Europe and one of the few in the world to incorporate this measure into its legislation, such as Japan, Indonesia or Zambia.

With this law “the interruption of work for a woman for reasons of menstruation” associated, for example, “with pathologies such as endometriosis” will be “recognized as a special state of temporary incapacity” to work.

“This pathological condition is given a regulation that will be adapted to eliminate any negative prejudice” for women “in the world of work,” the text added.

No clarification is given in the law about the duration of this sick leave, which must be given by a doctor paid by the social security service.

This “menstrual leave” however, it caused reservations among the Socialists and was even criticized by the UGT union.

This union close to the Socialists, one of the two largest in the country, mainly expressed concern that the law can act as a brake on the recruitment of women on behalf of employers who want to avoid these absences.

For its part, the conservative People’s Party (PP), the largest opposition party, warned of the risk of “marginalization” and “stigmatization” and of possible “negative labor market consequences” for women.

The “menstrual leave” is one of the most important measures of a much broader draft law that aims to increase access to abortion in public hospitals, which perform less than 15% of abortions in the country, mainly due to the mass opposition of doctors to reasons of conscience.

Because of this situation, and also because there is no special clinic near their residence, women sometimes have to travel hundreds of kilometers to be able to have an abortion.

He the law would also allow minors to have abortions without their parents’ consent at the age of 16 and 17 years old scrapping an obligation introduced in 2015 by the Conservative government.

Abortion was decriminalized in Spain in 1985, then legalized in 2010, but voluntary termination of pregnancy remains a right with many hurdles in its way in a deeply Catholic country.

The law approved today also provides for the strengthening of sex education in schools, as well as the free distribution of contraceptives or sanitary products in high schools.

Spain is a country that is considered a reference point in the field of women’s rights in Europe, mainly after the adoption in 2004 of a law on violence against women. Claiming a feminist label, the Sanchez government has more women than men.