ILGA Europe has published its annual Rainbow Map and LGBTQ+ rights index, and Spain has now claimed the number one spot for the most LGBTQ+-positive laws and policies. Spain displaced Malta from the number one spot, a position that Malta had held for the last 10 years.

ILGA explained in its report that, “Spain’s rise to the top reflects a combination of achievements, including a fully functioning depathologization of trans identities in healthcare, new legal protections, new national LGBTI and trans strategies, a new independent equal treatment and non-discrimination authority, and a determined fightback against far-right attempts to dismantle national trans protections.”

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The ILGA Rainbow Map is based on a survey of 76 criteria across seven categories covering laws and policies on “Equality and Non-Discrimination,” “Legal Gender Recognition,” “Civil Society Space,” and more. Each country’s ranking is then expressed as a percentage and you can view the color coded and interactive map here.

Malta has only lost one criteria point for explicit policies in “Goods & Services (Sex Characteristics),” dropping it to 87.73%. But in contrast, Spain has improved greatly, moving from 78% which put it in fifth place in 2025, to 88.7% for a first place position this year.

ILGA notes that Spain has followed through on commitments it set out in 2023, while Malta’s LGBTQ+ rights situation faces “stagnation and a lack of continuous reform,” with no anti-discrimination framework brought in after a 2019 Equality Bill was tabled and stalled.

The top five countries in ILGA’s rankings have remained the same since last year, but with a shake-up to their order. Spain rose to first place from fifth, and while Iceland remains in third with a 2% increase, Belgium has dropped to fourth, and Denmark is now in fifth place (despite a 5% increase). All of those countries have over an 85% score, according to IGLA’s criteria this year. Finland leaped down to sixth place with only 69.85%.

The United Kingdom has remained staunchly in the middle of the road with a barely-above-average ranking for Europe. While it stayed in 22nd place, it has lost 2% in its score, taking it down to 43.9% due to the decisions resulting from the 2025 U.K. Supreme Court ruling around the definition of a trans woman, and the subsequent confusion that has been caused about access to single-sex spaces.

That steep drop-off in ratings is emblematic of the work that is still needed across Europe and Central Asia. ILGA points out that only 10 of the countries studied have bans against conversion therapy. That could have easily changed recently, as the European Commission was petitioned to issue an EU-wide ban on the harmful practice. However, they stopped short, merely recommending that each member state should create its own national ban.

There are still many countries down at the bottom of the ILGA rankings with scores as low as 2% (that particular honor belonging to Russia). While there have been positive moves in many European countries, there is a wide gulf with countries choosing to roll back LGBTQ+ protections and put barriers in place to prevent LGBTQ+ people from attaining equal rights and the ability to live in a safe and free society.

ILGA also work with Transgender Europe (TGEU) to produce the Trans Rights Index & Map for Europe. That map used the same data but exclusively focuses on the 32 criteria that directly impact trans and non-binary people.  Some similar countries hold the top rankings, with Iceland topping the ranking, Malta comes close behind, followed by Spain, Belgium, Norway, and Germany. Russia is at the bottom of that ranking too.

Katrin Hugendubel, the deputy director for ILGA-Europe pointed to the need for strong political leadership in ILGA’s press release: “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. 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.”

However, noting the difference between laws and lived-experience and reports that Spain has seen a 15% rise in assaults against LGBTI people, she also says, “Of course more needs to be done in Spain, but this is a reminder that political courage is a choice, and that governments who make it can effectively push back.”