She was lauded for breaking through the glass ceiling when she became the first woman to lead one of Spain’s top business associations. But on Friday, Mónica Oriol was accused of blatant sexism, after the president of the Círculo de Empresarios said she preferred hiring women over the age of 45 or under 25 so as to avoid “the problem” posed by employees who become pregnant.

Oriol, a mother of six and president of the Spanish group of companies Seguriber-Umano, made the comments on Thursday at a roundtable discussion. In front of an audience made up of business leaders from Spain and Latin America, she argued that women’s rights in the workplace had become overly regulated in Spain, to the point where they were isolating women from professional careers.

Noting that her remarks would be “politically incorrect”, she went on to say that when it came to hiring, she “preferred women over the age of 45 or less than 25, because when women become pregnant, we end up with a problem.”

Oriol continued with a piece of advice to women. “The sacrifice to reach top positions comes with a price; either you marry a bureaucrat or you have a husband who loves children.”

Her comments were swiftly attacked by many. “Your words sadden me because even my grandmother, who died five years ago at the age of 83, was more advanced than you,” wrote the entrepreneur Gema Lendoiro in her blog for the conservative paper ABC. “The only reason you are sitting in that chair is that before your mother was born, women fought for the rights that you enjoy now without even batting an eyelid.”

Politicians also took aim at Oriol. “With women like Mónica Oriol, Spanish women don’t need sexist men,” the Socialists’ senate spokeswoman María Chivite said in a statement. Chivite, who is expecting her second child, said the remarks were full of “machismo, sexism and embarrassment” and called on Oriol to resign her position with the business association.

Two other political parties, United Left and Union, Progress and Democracy, called on public administrations to boycott Oriol’s company, which holds public contracts in sectors ranging from security to cleaning services and landscaping.

The backlash also extended to social media, where the topic dominated Twitter on Friday. “Machista comments in the 21st century are incomprehensible, but that these would come from a woman is worrying and sad,” wrote one user. “Mónica Oriol is at least honest,” wrote another. “Others speak about equality and then later on they ask in the interview if you’re thinking about becoming pregnant.”

A small minority defended Oriol. “The only thing that she did was suggest a logical and necessary measure, but everyone is stuck on her phrase about 25 and 45,” tweeted one.

A 2014 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers noted that Spain falls near the bottom of OECD countries when it comes to the integration of women in the workplace. Looking at equality, pay and proportion, the study ranked Spain 23rd out of 27 countries. The study noted that women made up 16% of board directors in 2014, up from 11% in 2012.

This was the second time Oriol has faced widespread criticism for her remarks. In April, she was lambasted for suggesting that employers should pay less than minimum wage to workers who lack a “certain amount of training”. Pointing to the estimated one-quarter of young Spaniards who are neither working nor studying, she argued that minimum wage “forces you to pay a salary to these young people, even though they’re good for nothing”. She later apologised for her remarks.