“The pecuniary penalty must be chosen, which is less serious than the custodial sentence,” he said in his ruling.
The ruling also banned Rubiales from going within a 200-metre radius of Hermoso and from communicating with her for one year. He will also have to pay Hermoso 3000 euros as compensation. The fine was set at 20 euros a day over an 18-month period.
Rubiales’ gross annual salary at the RFEF federation was 675,762 euros.
During the trial, Hermoso said the unsolicited kiss from her boss and the commotion that followed “tainted one of the happiest days of my life”, while her teammates testified it left her overwhelmed, crying and exhausted in the following hours and days.
The overall sense of the verdict, if not the mild sentence, was hailed as a victory for women’s rights in a country where macho attitudes are still deeply ingrained in some sectors of society despite considerable progress in recent decades.
“When there is no consent there is assault and that is what the judge certifies in this sentence. The victim’s word is honoured, as the law stipulates, and should not be questioned,” Equality Minister Ana Redondo in the leftist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X.
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Prominent feminist politician Irene Montero, a member of the European Parliament, also said the ruling was a victory for the movement, although she lamented the “minimum fine and damages”.
“Not long ago, it was unthinkable that a court would recognise a kiss without consent as a sexual assault. Feminism is changing everything: Only ‘yes’ means ‘yes’,” she said.
The ruling can be appealed.
