Barely a year after Spain passed its ‘trans equality’ law, gender self-identification is wreaking havoc across the country. To almost no one’s surprise, the law that makes it significantly easier for anyone to legally change their gender has turned out to be a predator’s charter.

Since early 2023, it has become astonishingly easy to change your legal gender in Spain. All you have to do is make two official declarations at a registry office, three months apart. There is no medical consultation or intervention needed, nor do you need to show proof that you actually intend to live life as your chosen gender. You don’t even need to be over 18. Sixteen-year-olds can legally change their name and gender, while 14- and 15-year-olds can do so with parental consent. Even children as young as 12 can legally make the switch with a judge’s approval.

The new law has taken a shredder to women’s rights. As anyone could have predicted, single-sex spaces have been all but abolished. And many other legal protections that women once fought for have disappeared overnight.

Last week, Ana Dávila-Ponce de León, councillor for family, youth and social affairs in Madrid, sent a letter to Spanish equality minister Ana Redondo García denouncing the new law. She had been made aware of a number of cases in Madrid in which men accused of crimes against women have abused the self-ID rules.