50th Anniversary of the Catalan Women's Conferences Commemorated at the University of Barcelona

The event brings together historical and current feminists to discuss the movement's challenges and demands.

Commemoren 50 anys de les Jornades Catalanes de la Dona a la Universitat de Barcelona

Generalitat de Catalunya · CC0

The Department of Equality and Feminism today commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Catalan Women's Conferences at the Paranimf of the University of Barcelona, bringing together voices from the past and present of feminism.

The event served to dialogue historical feminist movement demands with current and future challenges. The Minister of Equality and Feminism, Eva Menor Cantador, highlighted the importance of recognizing the feminists' struggle, valuing achievements, and remembering that effective equality remains an unfinished task.
Historian Mary Nash Baldwin, a pioneer in introducing women's history in Spain, delivered the inaugural lecture, reviewing 50 years of the feminist movement. Subsequently, lawyer and politician Magda Oranich i Solagran and feminist Anna Mercadé i Ferrando, participants in the 1976 Conferences, discussed the relevance of the debates raised at the time.
Several round tables were held on key topics such as health and sexual and reproductive rights, the fight for civil rights, women's rights and education, and labor rights. Experts such as Carme Valls i Llobet, Raquel Riba Rossy (Lola Vendetta), Marina Subirats, and Carla Galeote participated, among many others.
As part of the commemoration, the book Ressonàncies de 1976: la veu de les dones avui (Resonances of 1976: Women's Voices Today) and the exhibition Dones i participació política a Catalunya 1965-1982 (Women and Political Participation in Catalonia 1965-1982) were presented, both initiatives aimed at preserving the memory of the feminist movement and recognizing women's contributions to defending rights and equality.
The 1976 Catalan Women's Conferences brought together around 4,000 women and were among the first transition-era events open to citizen participation, collectively presenting demands regarding work, the right to one's body, sexuality, politics, legislation, and education.
Based on information from the official source: Generalitat de Catalunya — Institut Català de les Dones (16/10/2026)