Advertisement

Brothels start to close in Spain to cut Covid-19 risk

The Local Spain
The Local Spain - [email protected]
Brothels start to close in Spain to cut Covid-19 risk
Paradise sex club, was the largest brothel in Europe when it opened in Jonquera, north-eastern Spain, in 2010. Photo: Raymond Roig/AFP

All brothels in the Castilla La Mancha region will shut down this Sunday, as it become first Spanish region to bring in a blanket ban to reduce the spread of Coronavirus.

Advertisement

The decision was made last week after seven women and five men tested positive for coronavirus at a brothel in the town of Alcázar de San Juan. 
 
The forced closures in the region, which hosts the highest number of brothels in Spain, came as Spain's  equality minister, Irene Montero, wrote to the country's 17 regional governments on Thursday, asking them to find ways to shut down the hundreds of brothels that remain open for business. 
 
 

Advertisement

 
In her letter, Montero said that “a potential increase of coronavirus positives would be difficult to track” at the brothels and could endanger the health and rights of women working there. 
 
Prostitution was decriminalised in Spain in 1995, but pimping remains illegal. This means that while it is legal to own an establishment where prostitution takes place, the owner cannot employ prostitutes or otherwise derive financial gain from their work. 
 
READ ALSO: 
 
Most brothels operate with hotel or bar licenses, allowing some to remain open even as Spain's authorities have closed pubs and nightlife. 
 
Most of the women who work in them are also immigrants and they are often victims of people traffickers- In her letter, Montero asked local authorities to “seek dignified alternatives” for them. 
 
The United Left party in Castilla La Mancha, which has an abolitionist stance on prostitution, welcomed the decision. 
 
“How many women forced into prostitution are being obliged to put their health at risk and how many of Castilla-La Mancha’s positive cases have been caused by whoremongers?” the party wrote on social media. 
 
Many regions in Spain are already taking extra efforts to clamp down on the sex industry, with a brothel in Alicante closed at the end of last month after a worker tested positive for coronavirus.  
 
Ximo Puig, President of the Valencian Government, which has also long wanted to outlaw prostitution, on Friday said he wanted to take actions that "go far beyond the pandemic", and bring in legislative change to "put an end to prostitution,"  because prostitution involves "slavery".
 
 
 
 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also