When María Dolores climbs into her truck each Sunday afternoon, she knows the week ahead will blur into a relentless run of highways and loading docks, with only brief stops to rest. With 11 years of experience, she belongs to a small minority: women account for an estimated 2% of Spain’s professional truck drivers, or about 5,000 people. More than 25,000 women hold the relevant license, a impressive gap that shows the difference between being qualified to lead a heavy vehicle and working as a professional freight driver. For Dolores, the job is a necessity. “It’s tough, but I have no other option than to get in the truck,” she admits, capturing the reality faced by many women in the sector.
Her daily routine is shaped by the demands of the supply chain, not personal preference. Starting routes on Sundays is standard, not optional. “You have to leave Sunday afternoon to sleep at your destination and avoid using up your Monday driving hours,” she explains in candid social media posts. The workweek stretches endlessly, often making it hard to keep track of the days. For Dolores, weekends with family are a rare luxury, sacrificed to keep goods moving across the country.
The gender imbalance in Spanish transport is stark. Information from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, women make up 43.4% of all licensed drivers in Spain, more than 12 million people. Yet their presence in professional trucking remains minimal. The International Road Transport Union estimates that women account for 2% of truck drivers in Spain, compared with roughly 3% across Europe. Italy reports 7%; Germany, 5%. In March 2025, the ministry said women received about 11% of truck-driving permits issued annually, a measure of new licenses rather than the share of the active professional workforce. Social attitudes have also been slow to change: a 2026 Midas survey found that 83.5% of Spaniards believe prejudices persist about women’s driving abilities, and nearly half still find it unusual to see a woman behind the wheel of a heavy vehicle.
Dolores has felt this scrutiny firsthand. Early in her career, she recalls the stares and questions that came simply because she was a woman in the cab. “If I were a man, they wouldn’t ask me these things,” she says, arguing that professionalism should determine how drivers are judged. Her openness on social media and in the documentary short “Ellas conducen” has brought visibility to the realities women face in the industry, from isolation on the road to the challenge of balancing work and family.
Despite the obstacles, Dolores’s presence on Spain’s highways is quietly transformative. Every kilometre she drives delivers goods and chips away at barriers for women who may follow. Her story echoes that of other trailblazers, such as Spain’s youngest female truck driver, Andrea García Cano, who is challenging stereotypes and opening doors in logistics.
Broader workforce figures point to gradual growth, but cover a wider occupational group than freight truck drivers alone. A report cited by Autopos put the number of people employed in the analyzed transport workforce at 377,392. Truck drivers accounted for 53.9% of that group. It counted 33,296 women, or 4.8% of the broader professional group, after a reported year-on-year increase of 55.3%. These figures show rising participation from a low base, but they do not mean women make up 4.8% of long-haul freight drivers. The distinction matters: growth in transport employment and new licenses does not by itself show how many women enter or remain in professional trucking.
As elespanol motor notes, the slow, steady increase in women entering the transport sector signals a gradual shift. The figures also show how far the sector remains from parity. Women’s greater presence in passenger transport, set against their small share of freight driving, points to barriers beyond licensing. These include recruitment and the organization of long-distance work, with its extended absences and irregular schedules. For now, drivers like María Dolores continue to shoulder the weight of their cargo and the expectations of a changing industry.
Spain’s transport sector is one of the country’s largest employers, but remains heavily male-dominated. Initiatives to attract more women have emerged in recent years, yet cultural and practical barriers persist. At the III Congreso de la Mujer en el Transporte, the ministry highlighted women’s recruitment as part of the response to pressure on the supply of professional drivers. The experiences of drivers like Dolores show both the progress made and the distance still to go.
