After Thursday’s verdict, the Spanish government said it planned to review how sex assault is defined in Spain’s criminal code, which dates from 1995. “Spain has changed in many ways since then,” Mr. Catalá said in an interview on Cadena Ser, a radio station.

The justice minister suggested that judges should be trained to take account of social sensitivities, and he also urged Spain’s judicial watchdog to review the stance of one of the three judges who ruled in Pamplona, after he called for the five men to be absolved.

But the head of that watchdog group, Carlos Lesmes, a justice on the Supreme Court, firmly rejected such criticism as an unjustified attempt to discredit the judiciary.

While allowing that “every legal decision is without a doubt subject to public criticism,” Mr. Lesmes said that “when the criticisms are dismissive and come from people who hold public responsibilities, that seriously undermines the trust that our judicial system deserves to receive from citizens.”

The judges also noted that Spain’s legal system allowed the victim, whose name has not been disclosed, to appeal the ruling before a regional court and, if she wishes, to Spain’s Supreme Court.