diff --git a/include/xlnt/worksheet/row_properties.hpp b/include/xlnt/worksheet/row_properties.hpp
index d78c4313..a2e92e25 100644
--- a/include/xlnt/worksheet/row_properties.hpp
+++ b/include/xlnt/worksheet/row_properties.hpp
@@ -63,6 +63,13 @@ public:
     /// The index to the style used by all cells in this row
     /// </summary>
     optional<std::size_t> style;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// The row column span, used as part of the row block optimisation.
+    /// This used for loading this attribute from existing excel files mainly for inspecting
+    /// and not used when saving, it is calculated in the xlsx_producer.
+    /// </summary>
+    optional<std::string> spans;
 };
 
 inline bool operator==(const row_properties &lhs, const row_properties &rhs)
@@ -72,7 +79,8 @@ inline bool operator==(const row_properties &lhs, const row_properties &rhs)
         && lhs.custom_height == rhs.custom_height
         && lhs.hidden == rhs.hidden
         && lhs.custom_format == rhs.custom_format
-        && lhs.style == rhs.style;
+        && lhs.style == rhs.style
+        && lhs.spans == rhs.spans;
 }
 
 } // namespace xlnt
diff --git a/source/detail/serialization/xlsx_consumer.cpp b/source/detail/serialization/xlsx_consumer.cpp
index 3ac9eb0b..33841f84 100644
--- a/source/detail/serialization/xlsx_consumer.cpp
+++ b/source/detail/serialization/xlsx_consumer.cpp
@@ -221,9 +221,13 @@ cell xlsx_consumer::read_cell()
             row_properties.dy_descent = parser().attribute<double>(qn("x14ac", "dyDescent"));
         }
 
+        if (parser().attribute_present("spans")) {
+            row_properties.spans = parser().attribute("spans");
+        }
+
         skip_attributes({"customFormat", "s", "customFont",
             "outlineLevel", "collapsed", "thickTop", "thickBot",
-            "ph", "spans"});
+            "ph"});
     }
 
     if (!in_element(qn("spreadsheetml", "row")))
@@ -713,9 +717,13 @@ void xlsx_consumer::read_worksheet_sheetdata()
             row_properties.custom_format.set(parser().attribute<bool>("customFormat"));
         }
 
+        if (parser().attribute_present("spans")) {
+            row_properties.spans = parser().attribute("spans");
+        }
+
         skip_attributes({"customFont",
             "outlineLevel", "collapsed", "thickTop", "thickBot",
-            "ph", "spans"});
+            "ph"});
 
         while (in_element(qn("spreadsheetml", "row")))
         {