Spain Just Topped Europe’s LGBTQIA+ Rights Ranking While Russia Is Dead Last
Spain has overtaken Malta to claim the top spot on ILGA-Europe’s 2026 Rainbow Map, the annual ranking that scores 49 European countries on the laws and policies that affect their LGBTQIA+ communities.
The shift comes after Spain rolled out a new independent equal treatment and non-discrimination authority, expanded legal protections, and made trans healthcare fully depathologised. Russia and Azerbaijan tied for last place with scores of just 2%.
The map is now in its 18th year and treats legal progress as a moving target. Top score is 100%. Bottom is zero.
Who made the top five
Joining Spain at the top are Malta, Iceland, Belgium and Denmark. Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Luxembourg also scored well, though they sat outside the leading group this year. The UK, meanwhile, landed midway down with a score of 44%, weighed down by years of anti-trans rhetoric and policy.
Who languished at the bottom
The bottom of the table reads like a roll call of countries with active state hostility towards queer people. Russia and Azerbaijan share the floor at 2%. Turkey, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Monaco, Romania and Ukraine rounded out the lower tier. Italy, despite sitting in Western Europe, ranked 36th.
Why Spain’s win comes with a warning
The law on paper does not always match the street. Assaults against LGBTQIA+ people in Spain have jumped from 7% to 22% in the past two years, ILGA-Europe found, alongside a rise in hate speech aimed at the community.
Spain is, in other words, both the safest country on the map and one of the more dangerous places to be out depending on the moment.
Katrin Hugendubel, the Deputy Director of ILGA-Europe, framed the result as a deliberate choice rather than an accident.
“Spain’s number one ranking is a strong example of what becomes possible when a government makes a deliberate choice to advance equality rather than retreat from it,” she said.
“We see this same spirit in leaders like Zohran Mamdani in New York, who are refusing to bow to the authoritarian pressure of this moment and choosing instead to stand with their communities.”
She added that the 2026 map tells two stories at once. “One of genuine courage, in Spain, in courtrooms, and in leaders who are choosing to stand with their communities rather than scapegoat them. And one of real and growing danger that cannot be underestimated.”
Spain earned this position through specific legislative moves, not by accident. The countries that fell behind made choices too. The Rainbow Map is a report card on political will, and the marks are real.
