On 16 April 2008, Spain scored a European first, (opinion is divided about whether or not it was a world first – it depends on whether or not you count the Amazons) when José Zapatero, the socialist prime minister, entered his second term and announced a majority-female cabinet. He had always been sound on matters of gender – he said in 2004, "I am not just anti-machismo, I'm a feminist", and four years later, nine of his 17 cabinet ministers were female. Once Zapatero sat down, the table was split 50:50, but it was clear that Zapatero, saw himself not as part of the fray of his radical cabinet, but rather the father (or midwife, if you like) of a new era of equality. "I feel very proud that there are more women ministers than men," he said.

It was the most obvious moment of what Zapatero has long described as a feminist agenda, but his credentials are based on more than numbers. He installed Spain's first-ever female minister of defence (Carme Chacón) when she was seven months' pregnant, as well as the country's youngest-ever minister (Bibiana Aído, then 31). He also established a ministry for equality.

Italy, just to take one example, has four female ministers out of 21, all in lightweight departments, and all in possession of competition-standard good looks. So the difference between the neighbours couldn't have been starker. Silvio Berlusconi said at the time that he found Zapatero's government "too pink", though he is such a nitwit that who knows whether he was being sexist or calling Zapatero gay?

One of Zapatero's first legislative areas in 2004 was domestic violence, a huge issue in Spain. Nuria Bienert, who works for Amnesty, says: "A fact that proves a background of gender persecution is that in Spain there is a lot of sexual violence. It's one of the countries where there is the largest number of people killed by their partners." In 2007, 71 women were killed by their partners in Spain, up from 68 the previous year and more than Germany and the UK. However, Professor Sylvia Walby, Unesco chair in gender research, warns about the failures of comparative data. "Lots of countries say they've got the worst, but it's bad everywhere," she says.

Nevertheless, there was a perception in Spain when Zapatero came in that, not only was domestic violence prevalent, it was dealt with inadequately: the police didn't enforce restraining orders and the law didn't press the point. The new measures were varied, and included better restraining orders, better refuge provision and 17 courts dealing only with domestic violence. The prime minister's commitment to it can't be overstated, especially since it extended beyond his own legislation. He took a pan-European interest in addressing the issue. Walby adds: "I was there when the Council of Europe was trying to do something on domestic violence. And he brought the whole council into his senate house and announced that he, as prime minister, was serious about doing something about it."

There are quibbles about whether he could have taken on other issues in his first term faster: he dragged his feet somewhat on abortion, which wasn't liberalised in line with northern European democracies until 2008. But this necessitated a profound row and, some say, a lasting rift with the Catholic church, which he had already taken on with his same-sex marriage legislation when he first took office. In 2006, he brought in a law improving the lives of carers, most of whom are women. In the same year, a new law created citizenship classes, in which gender, equality, difference and diversity made up a more significant component than in those in the UK. No country has been a larger contributor than Spain to UN Women, the United Nations gender-equality wing. Not even Norway. According to his first term and his second so far, Zapatero should be the darling of feminists. "Well, I wouldn't use the word 'darling'. . ." Walby starts, cautiously.

The surprising flipside to this picture is the number of young women who find it impossible to get a job in Spain. Aida, who preferred not to give her surname, is a senior environment officer for agriculture in the UK, because she could not get an interview in Spain. "The feeling was, don't even bother sending in your CV, because you are female, they won't even look at it. It's always been like that, in Spain. You know, the financial crisis is one thing. But this was a couple of years ago.

"Everybody will do a masters after the degree, everybody is overqualified. There are loads of female engineers. Some of them will be working, but in many cases it's very much only men." According to Gestha, Spain's national statistics office, women earn ¤5,300 (£4,700) less than the average male wage of ¤21,433 (£18,960), making their average earnings 24% lower.

Optimists have said that, if this gap carries on closing at the rate it has, it will close in 10 years. But analysts say since the gap is higher in areas where more qualifications are required, and higher still in part-time work, then as the workplace evolves – with women achieving higher status, and more flexible work is recognised – the pay gap will get bigger before it gets smaller.

Laura Perez Maestro, a 29-year-old journalist at CNN, notes that women are still seen as a burden at work, because of maternity leave (which, at 16-weeks, barely warrants the word "burden"). More specific to Spain is the fact that there is almost no concept of work-life balance: the typical day is 9am-8pm – not always with a siesta – and the accepted norm for a parent is either not to work, or to devolve responsibility to a grandparent. The prevalence of strong family networks has, in effect, allowed women to put off fighting for their dual citizenship in the worlds of work and home. But there's an argument that the government's measures were too symbolic and not practical enough. Measures about quotas, discrimination, equal pay and transparency related to the private sector and not to government coffers. As Walby puts it: "In terms of the legislative moves that he could make without costing too much money, what he's done is as good as it gets."

However, that's not been quite good enough, given that the private sector has managed to water down a lot of its requirements, and the financial crisis has changed the atmosphere. The ministry for equality has been wound down (in fairness, gender-equality bodies are being wound down all over Europe, including our own EHRC). The implementation of equality laws is patchy in Spain because the country is so decentralised; local bodies have powers to subvert or water down, or delay, central dictat.

Ultimately, Spain has been changing more quickly, and more impressively than many of its European counterparts, but it had much further to go: it is unusual in southern European nations to have ever spent much on welfare, childcare or benefits.

Spain had, until Zapatero, very low economic growth, and part of that was attributable to the low female workplace participation (that age-old problem, they wanted to swell the GDP but couldn't find a babysitter). So it was something of a poisoned chalice that Zapatero scored, when he fought and won as a feminist. But he drank it with style: may he win it again when he stands for re-election next year.

• This article was amended on 1 April 2011. The previous version gave an incorrect date for the presidential election.