Heraldo de Madrid - Thousands march for women's rights and against Mideast war

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Thousands march for women's rights and against Mideast war

POLITICS 08.03.2026

Thousands march for women's rights and against Mideast war / Photo: Alex MARTIN - AFP

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across the world Sunday to mark International Women's Day and, in some cases, denounce the war in the Middle East.

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From Rio in Brazil to cities across France, Spain and other European countries, demonstrators marched to demand women's rights across a range of issues.

In France, rape survivor Gisele Pelicot led a women's rights march in Paris, one of several demonstrations in French cities.

Thousands also marched in cities across Spain to protest gender-based violence and call for an end to the war in the Middle East.

The Paris march was one of some 150 demonstrations held to mark International Women's Day in France, with events taking place in other cities including Bordeaux, Lille, and Marseille.

"We won't give up," Pelicot, 73, told the crowd as she joined thousands in the French capital marching for women's rights, economic equality, and an end to sexual violence.

Pelicot became a global symbol in the fight against sexual violence after she waived her right to anonymity during the 2024 trial of her ex-husband and dozens of strangers who raped her while she was unconscious.

Last week, she received the Order of Civil Merit from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid.

- 'No to war'-

Spanish protesters were denouncing both violence against women and the war in the Middle East sparked by last weekend's US-Israeli strikes.

Demonstrations took place in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Granada, Bilbao, and San Sebastian, among other cities.

Madrid hosted two demonstrations in the centre of the Spanish capital -- one for transgender rights and the other for the legalisation and regulation of prostitution.

Slogans written on placards at the protests included "No to war" and "Anti-fascist feminists against imperialist war".

Alexa Rubio, a 30-year-old Mexican living in Spain, cited pay and harassment as some of the most urgent issues.

"And in my country, gender-based violence, because women are being killed for being women," she told AFP.

Yolanda Diaz, Spain's second deputy prime minister, spoke out against the war in the Middle East at a Madrid rally.

"It is within our power to stop the war, to stop the barbarity, and to win rights," she said.

"We proclaim ourselves in defence of peace, in defence of the Iranian people, in defence of Iranian women," she added, referring to the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Sanchez, Spain's socialist prime minister, has drawn the ire of the US administration for refusing the use of Spain's military bases for strikes against Iran.