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Madrid (dpa) - Spain has the largest proportion of women among European armed forces, Defence Minister Jose Bono said Monday during a visit to a barracks near Madrid.
Spain's army, air force and navy have a total 16,311 women or 13.5 per cent of the total.
The number of female soldiers has increased steadily since the first woman joined the army in 1988.
"If half of generals were women, things would be much better," Bono said.
So far, Spanish female soldiers have not been promoted higher than to the rank of major.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
