Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calviño refused to be in a group photo at a managers' forum because she would have been the only woman in the picture, an act that has won her praise and condemnation.
The 53-year-old was celebrated on social media by activists and by colleagues in the left-leaning government - but she was sharply criticized by top business leaders.
"This is just posturing," Antonio Garamendi, president of Spain's CEOE business confederation, told reporters in Madrid on Wednesday.
With her refusal, Calviño made good on a promise she made in February at the Madrid Leaders Forum on Tuesday.
The first deputy to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned back then that she would never again take a photo or participate in debates in which she was the only woman.
Equality
"We can no longer consider it normal that 50% of the population is not present at such events," she stressed.
"Bravo!" tweeted well-known journalist and lawyer Ainhoa Martínez. Minister of Equality Irene Montero wrote on the social network, "Well done, vice president!"
However, Garamendi said, "What's important is that equality prevails in companies, and not in photos." In the CEOE, women are in the majority, "around 65%," he said.
