BURGOS – PP and Vox impose the same standard for men and women in the physical tests for firefighters in Burgos. The call has caused great dissatisfaction among the female candidates. Moreover, the required standard causes clear discrimination.
Unlike many other provinces, where the minimum standard to achieve a 5 differentiates between men and women depending on the performance of both sexes in the different tests, the Burgos City Council has set the same minimum standard for both.
An example of this can be found in the municipal council of Salamanca, ruled by the PP with an absolute majority, which issued a similar call on 13 June, distinguishing between men and women, as stipulated in Annex III of regulations.
“Running 200 metres in 27′ is an easily attainable goal for a man. Whereas, for a woman it requires a much higher level of physical fitness. The female podium of the recent Spanish Athletics Championship was occupied by three professional athletes with times of 23′, while the men stop the clock at 201. Therefore, women are forced to invest much more time and money to achieve the same times,” admits one of the candidates with whom Público has been in contact.
Correction factor in tests for firefighters
The city council is trying to soften the discrimination in the call. Therefore, it states that “women who pass all physical tests, following the minimums established in this basis, will have a correction factor of +10% applied to the value obtained according to the tables established for this purpose”. However, the candidates claim that it is “impossible” to get a 5 on these “masculine” criteria.
The same situation with the right and extreme right in Zaragoza
City councils like Zaragoza’s already voted in plenary last year for a motion called for by Zaragoza and Común demanding that the physical testing of firefighting positions be more equal and stop favouring men over women.
Then ruled by PP-Cs, the municipal council then established something similar to what has now happened in Burgos, the same minimum standard for both.
The obvious consequence of this decision by the PP-Cs government is that it is much more difficult for women to pass physical tests. Instead of promoting the entry of women into highly masculinised professions, as required by the equality law, the exact opposite is being done.
Also read: How a 63 year old local helped firefighters in the Mijas fire
