The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola and the President of the Spanish Government Pedro Sánchez honoured the legacy of Clara Campoamor, who played such a crucial role in giving a voice to women in Spain. As of today, the European Parliament has a building in Brussels named after Clara Campoamor.
© European Union | European Parliament President Roberta Metsola with the President of the Spanish Government Pedro Sánchez
Dear President Sánchez, Distinguished guests,
It is a pleasure to be here today, with the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez and prominent Spanish Members of the European Parliament at my side, to honour the legacy of a great Spanish woman: Clara Campoamor. As a lawyer and politician, she played such a crucial role in giving a voice to women in Spain, and therefore also a voice to women in Europe.
And that is the reason why, on International Women’s Day last year, the Bureau of this European Parliament decided to name one of its very own buildings the Clara Campoamor building. But this is not just any building.
This Clara Campoamor building houses most of our Human Resources staff here in Brussels. This building is the first port-of-call for new recruits joining us. It is here - in collaborative work spaces of this 2019 rebuilt house, that new European Parliament staff members are greeted and welcomed.
It is in this building that the Talent Selection is prepared. And as our staff progress through their career, it is the human resources staff in this building that will assist colleagues on Learning & Development, on mobility, on Well-being. It is here that they will inquire about childcare facilities in Brussels too. This is to say that the services in this Clara Campoamor building are rooted in “Equality, inclusion and diversity”. Values that Clara Campoamor held dear. Human values that this Parliament holds dear too.
It is only fitting that we should honour Clara Campoamor here at the European Parliament in Brussels. She played a crucial role in rooting the principle of care in our society, as well as fighting for democracy, at a time - less than 100 years ago - when women, in too many places still, were denied the fundamental right to vote on grounds of gender!
Campoamor said rightly: "Women contribute to more than half of the nation and it is not possible to do serious legislative work without more than half of the nation”. And so she fought for equity and justice.
The path of politics is still so much steeper for women, but if I can stand here today as President of the European Parliament, it is thanks to the legacy of strong women who came before me. It is thanks to Clara Campoamor and to many others who tirelessly fought to shape Europe, so that it would be a better place for generations to come.
On that note, I now give the floor to President of the Spanish Government Mr Pedro Sánchez who will say a few words.
Thank you. You can find President Metsola's speech in Spanish here.