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END OF THE GAME?
Dave Bull / 2009-10-29 14:28:56
New by-laws could mean the end for the ‘roundabout girls’
Following my article several weeks ago concerning the amount of women on our roundabouts, or by the side of the road, selling their bodies we had a huge response. The mix, I would say, was roughly fifty-fifty with readers both complaining about and sympathising with, the girls who, in most cases, are working under the close eye of a pimp somewhere.
A good number of the letters however, asked the question as to why the police leave them alone most of the time. The answer, which I’d stated previously, was that, quite simply, once they were taken in to custody the girls would stay silent and failed to produce any ID. Without knowing what nation the girls come from the police can do nothing apart from letting them go. Well now a new by-law which comes into force next month in Granada will see the first town in Andalucía to introduce fines for street prostitution. With Ondara on the Costa Blanca, who will be voting at a council meeting next week on its own by-law, now following their example and many other Ayuntamientos considering similar measures it looks as if the girls on the roundabouts could soon be a thing of the past.
In some towns and cities, including Granada,Malaga and perhaps Alicante prostitutes who ply their trade on public roads will soon face a fine of up to 3,000 € under the new local by-law which comes into force next month.
The new regulations, effective from 10th November, ban sexual relations or their negotiation in all public places, with the full force of the law being applied if they take place within 200 metres of schools, residential and business areas. According to sources most fines will range between 80 to 500 €, but sexual acts taking place in the street will be considered a very serious offence and could be fined the maximum amount.
The fines will only be applied to those who reoffend and already know the law is in place, however, help is also at hand as part of the new directive and the municipal social services department will be on hand to help and advise any prostitutes who work locally and who want to give up their profession. The aim is to try and help some of the women who work there as prostitutes of which many claim to be 18 years old, but are no older than 17, with some even as young as 15. They are said to be mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa and eastern Europe and can earn their bosses up to 3,000 € a week, compared to the 700 € they would be able to bring in by begging.
In Malaga and also in Elche, near Alicante CCTV cameras have been installed on industrial estates in a bid to protect underage girls from sexual exploitation. The increasing frequency of prostitution in these sort of locations over the past year has been a growing concern for business owners.
Whether this will see the end of the ‘problem’ remains to be seen but the Spanish authorities and many residents associations welcomed the moves saying that it would be both beneficial to the tourist trade and less intimidating for residents and holiday makers alike.
We’ll have to see how rigid the police are in enforcing the law but hopefully there aren’t too many like a National Police Inspector based in Ceuta who was arrested by his own colleagues after he was caught having sex with a prostitute while on duty. The Inspector, who was only assigned to Ceuta some months ago, was found with the woman in his official car on the outskirts of the Autonomous City last Wednesday.
He is reported to have allegedly threatened the woman into having sex with him; an internal investigation is now under way in addition to the court investigation.
Tags: Prostitution, Spain
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