It might surprise you that 36% of Spain's members of Parliament are women, placing it 20th in the world by the Inter- parliamentary Union1 while American women make up just 18.5% of the U.S. Congress for a dismal ranking of 79th.
Yes, Spain, the country where the term “machismo” comes from (which has long been adopted into the English lexicon). But if that last figure didn't surprise you, this one just might do the trick: in 1977, the first elected Parliament of Spain after 36 years of dictatorship had slightly more women (5.8%) than the U.S. Congress at the time (3.74%) and from there it has comfortably outpaced women in the U.S. for the past 39 years. (read article)