When you first see young ladies on the side of the road or at the roundabouts, they are a bit of a novelty, something you remark on to your visitors. I don’t recall seeing prostitutes plying for their trade in England except perhaps in certain quarters of major cities at night; you certainly don’t find them on the roadside in the daytime.
Quite how people explain the presence of these young ladies to innocent young children, I can’t imagine especially the ones who stand in their underwear waving to passing motorists. Spain has vowed its intentions to move towards a less ‘macho’ society but seems unwilling to do anything to stop this sex trade on the highways.
The mayor at Daya Vieja, obviously not prepared to wait for national legislation, has now decided to take matters into his own hands. He has put forward a proposal for a new municipal ordinance giving the local police powers to issue fines to the young ladies offering their services and also for their clients. Fed up with the tardy image that these problems bring to his town, the mayor has gone a step further by including other ‘social offences’ under the same banner; drinking in public, begging, parking offences and unauthorised street trading. The proposed fines for these offences range from 750 to 3,000 Euros – substantial enough, I would guess, to act as a strong deterrent.
As is often the case, other municipalities in the region will likely take up the lead and apply similar ordinances to own their towns. If they do, it will certainly improve the image for families who visit the area.
1 comment:
I'm sympathetic to the problem, and I have seen prostitutes working during the day (though it's very rare) but one thing I've learned whilst living close to a red light district is that prostitution can't and won't be banned. It needs support in being made very, very discreet, accessible to those who want/need it but only those who go looking for it, and as healthy and safe as reasonably achievable for all concerned.
It's distasteful, but it won't just go away.
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