Gender-inclusive language remains a topic of ongoing public debate involving institutions, the general public, and professionals – among whom translators play a key role as social actors who must navigate conflicting expectations and make complex decisions. This is especially evident for translators working with languages such as Spanish, where grammatical gender, along with number, is one of the two core inflectional categories that systematically affect nouns, determiners, and adjectives. This paper analyzes the perceptions regarding the use of gender-inclusive language on the part of professional translators in Spain, through a qualitative study of the views of a sample (n = 154) of professionals across various specialities. While most participants express support for gender-inclusive language, there are also negative opinions and neutral stances. The study highlights the complexities of navigating between personal convictions, professional constraints, and client expectations. It reveals the coexistence of competing ideologies – one informed by gender awareness and the other by prescriptive linguistic norms – and how these tensions shape translators’ decision-making. Additionally, the findings underline the influence of factors such as the source text, client preferences, and the perceived role of translation as a professional service. This research aims to shed light on the evolving role of gender-inclusive language in translation.