Municipal ordinances and street prostitution in Spain

Abstract

Beginning with the civic ordinance enacted in Barcelona in 2005, in the first decade of the twentyfirst century, most big and mediumsized cities in Spain enacted municipal ordinances prohibiting various types of uncivil behaviour in the street. The stated goal of all these municipal regulations was to promote urban safety and the civic use of public space. However, in some cases these prohibitions have gone beyond this goal and had deeper, at times even contrary, effects on some of the activities they are intended to regulate. An analysis of the effects of banning street prostitution through municipal ordinances in Spain shows not only that the trade of sexual services in the street has not disappeared, but also that the conditions of police control in which street sex workers must operate have worsened. The lack of effectiveness of these regulations to discourage sex workers from offering their services in the street may explain the recent change in municipal policy attitude towards this issue, which is shifting from a soft prohibitionist approach to an abolitionist one. At the national level, although the recently passed Citizen Safety Act seems to take an abolitionist approach to this matter, materially speaking it is very close to prohibitionist schemes for dealing with street prostitution.

Law in action: Local-level prostitution policies and practices and their effects on sex workers

“…In addition, according to street-based migrant sex workers informally interviewed in Catania, these practices have also increased their fears of being checked by the police, and of being arrested and deported when found without a regular visa. A similar effect was also noted by sex workers in Spain after the adoption by many cities of punitive civic ordinances (see Villacampa and Torres, 2013;Villacampa, 2017) and in Finland, Sweden and Norway for the police use of immigration law (Vuolajärvi, 2019).…”

“…Prostitution is a divisive social issue and, as a case of 'morality politics' (Wagenaar and Altink, 2012), its governance is often shaped by conflicting ideological and political positions on the problematic intersection of sex and money. Reflecting normative (and sometimes moral) views on the phenomenon and often with varying objectives, most European countries regulate prostitution according to one of the following models of intervention: some legalize it under certain conditions (strict regulations, for example, are adopted in Austria, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands); others aim to abolish it by criminalizing clients (in countries that have adopted the abolitionist model, such as France, Norway, Iceland and Sweden); and yet others do not criminalize the selling and purchasing of sex but punitively sanction most prostitution-related activities as 'illegal' (for example, sex trafficking, procuring) or 'anti-social'/'uncivil' (for example, loitering and public soliciting) -the latter mostly through administrative fines, which have recently witnessed a resurgence in some European countries (Di Ronco and Peršak, 2014;Peršak, 2017;Selmini, 2005Selmini, , 2012Selmini and Crawford, 2016;Villacampa and Torres, 2013;Villacampa, 2017). This last approach is often referred to as 'partial criminalization'; it is adopted in England and Wales, Belgium, Italy and Spain, among others.…”

Prostitution Policies and Attitudes Toward Prostitutes

“…Prostitution was completely unregulated in Spain until 2003, when Article 188 of the Criminal Code (LO 11/2003) was amended with the aim of criminalizing those who profit from prostitution through human trafficking. Therefore, the buying and selling of adult and consensual sex is not illegal in Spain, but neither is it recognized as a regular profession (Villacampa, 2017). In addition, while the existence of clubs, hotels, or apartments -in which prostitution is exercised-is not prohibited, most activities related to prostitution in public areas, such as negotiating sexual services in streets, are criminalized (Schmitt, Euchner, & Preidel, 2013).…”

“…Although Article 188 is applied by the Spanish state, the legal competencies are implemented by local governments. While Valencia and Barcelona penalize both clients and prostitutes, especially when the activity takes place on the street, Seville has adopted the abolitionist model and only fines clients (Villacampa, 2017). Cordoba, for its part, aims to raise awareness among clients about human trafficking instead of penalizing them.…”

La relación de compraventa en la prostitución

“…Dictadas por los Ayuntamientos en algunas localidades españolas entre el 2005 al 2015, más exactamente en 51 municipios. Estas medidas no han disuadido la demanda, sino que muchas de las multas recayeron en las propias mujeres, aquellas con mayor vulnerabilidad que eran victimas de trata, con repercusiones muy negativas para las mismas (Villacampa, 2017). Posteriormente, la ley de Seguridad Ciudadana, Ley Orgánica 4/2015 de 30 marzo, conocida como «Ley Mordaza», creo unas condiciones para la persecución tanto de las mujeres que venden servicios sexuales como los hombres que lo compran en todo el Estado, continuando y acrecentando las condiciones de vulnerabilidad de las mujeres.…”