Goldstan
Will Goldstan be the saviour of the locals from the influx of foreign investors that will dominate the two big cities Manchester and Liverpool and drive locals out of their cities as we have seen all over the world what tourism and open foreign investments policies have done to some cities and towns. The most obvious example is the two major towns in Santorini, Greece, Oia and Fira where the locals have driven out of their towns, for so many reasons and they sold their houses at prices at the time that is not enough now to stay in a hotel for a few weeks if they want to see their towns out of nostalgia.
If we think only of the present, we will lose the future.
Liverpool is the other city to the west of Manchester which is as vibrant and attractive as Manchester to the tourists and has all the criteria Manchester has in addition to the access to the sea, and they both compliment each other, and they both have worked and connected to each other for a very long time. From the ship canal that took Manchester to the sea through Merseyside and the first passenger train in the world that joined Manchester and Liverpool. Both are now competing with each other to attract tourists, university students and selling properties to national and international investors and the last one comes with a price and disadvantage to the locals as always has been highlighted here and in the media and the newspapers. Apart from locals driven out their cities, the infrastructure may not expand enough and the roads and the streets not wide enough to accommodate all the new peoples when all the cranes come down. These big cities should be maintained and continue to provide the world with all what they have multiple talents of their people, science and innovation, not selling properties or cheap tourism that will disadvantage the locals. They are also cities of heritages and should be treated as such and considered listed cities like listed buildings and not to be touched without thinking and proper planning to be responsible to keep them as they are and not subject them to investors hands that offer short term gains that will change the cities forever and may spoil them if not destroy them if the authorities are not careful !!!!
The Solution is a Goldstan
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After reading our page https://visitorsin.com/index.php/shisha-smoking on the danger and effect of shisha smoking on the health of the public and the strain on the NHS, do you agree with us that shisha smoking should be banned in public, not just regulated
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MCR is coming to Manchester streets soon, but not very soon.
The new street food, MCR, is suitable for everyone and inspired by Manchester
and the Mancunians way of life, street food that can be shared by everyone and
suit everyone and hopes it will be found on Manchester streets soon.
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Summer Students Were In The City
Welcome to Manchester
Summer students from all over the world were in Manchester and visitorsinmanchester.com met groups of
summer students from Saudi Arabia during the summer. They had good courses and enjoyed their stay in Manchester. They all explore Manchester and some travelled to Liverpool, York, North Wales and The Lake District.
Please Support banning Shisha Smoking in public places
When everyone knows this:
” the average shisha-smoking session lasts about an hour and research by the World Health Organisation (WHO) reveals that 1 hour of shisha smoking can be as damaging as 100-200 cigarettes, perception that shisha smoking is not addictive because the water used in the pipe can absorb nicotine is incorrect since in reality only SOME of the nicotine is absorbed by the water so smokers are still exposed to enough nicotine to cause an addiction and so shisha is playing a role in encouraging people to take up cigarette smoking and fruit and herbal flavoured shisha still usually contain tobacco so again the perception that it is healthier is wrong. Even if you use tobacco-free shisha you are still at risk from the carbon monoxide and any carcinogenic toxins generated by the coal or charcoal used to burn the shisha. “
Why the Government doesn't ban shisha smoking in public or at least to regulate it, for now, to protect the public health and save NHS Resources
And
Let us try to make The Next First Of May
Public Awareness Day Of The Danger Of Shisha Smoking In Public Places.
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Goldstan
Will Goldstan be the saviour of the locals from the influx of foreign investors that will dominate the two big cities Manchester and Liverpool and drive locals out of their cities as we have seen all over the world what tourism and open foreign investments policy have done to some cities and towns. The most obvious example is the two major towns in Santorini, Greece, Oia and Fira where the locals have driven out of their towns, for so many reasons and they sold their houses at prices at the time not enough now to stay in a hotel for a few weeks if they want to see their towns out of nostalgia.
If we think only of the present, we will lose the future.
Liverpool is the other city to the west of Manchester which is as vibrant and attractive as Manchester to the tourists and has all the criteria Manchester has in addition to the access to the sea, and they both compliment each other, and they both have worked and connected to each other for a very long time. From the ship canal that took Manchester to the sea through Merseyside and the first passenger train in the world that joined Manchester and Liverpool. Both are now competing with each other to attract tourists, university students and selling properties to national and international investors and this comes with a price and disadvantage to the locals as always has been highlighted here and in the media and the newspapers. Apart from locals driven out their cities, the infrastructure may not expand enough and the roads and the streets not wide enough to accommodate all the new peoples when all the cranes come down. These big cities should be maintained and continue to provide the world with all what they have multiple talents of the people. They are also cities of heritages and should be listed cities as when buildings are listed and not to be touched without thinking and proper planning to be responsible to keep them as they are and not subject them to investments that offer short term gains that will change the cities forever and may spoil them if not destroy them if the authorities are not careful !!!!
Click For The Solution Here, Goldstan
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Services Of Interest To Manchester Visitors
Before you come to Manchester and during your stay that we hope you will enjoy, please find services of interest to Manchester Visitors. Visitorsinmanchester.com Team hopes these places make your stay in Manchester more comfortable and settle nicely to enjoy your holiday. Please note that these companies/services are not related to the site. We only show what the services available in Manchester for you to choose or do your search to find one suit you. Always it is a good idea to see reviews of the impartial sites not just commentaries on the website of the service you intend to use.
Guides and Web Sites of Interest to The Visitors In Manchester
Manchester, the vibrant and dynamic city, has many websites that can guide the visitors to places of interest and highlight the activities in the city and the coming events from sport, music, art, theatre, festivals, etc. Some of these websites guide you to places of dining and drinking in Manchester. Manchester got everything, and these websites will help you and show you what's on and what's happening in Manchester if you are interested in things to see and do you might need to book in advance if you are intended to come to Manchester. Diana Ross is going to be in Manchester on July 3, 2020, and ticket already all gone by now. If you want to see something like this during your stay, you have to book early.
Learn Original Vegan and Middle Eastern Cooking at your home
Vegan and Middle Eastern Cooking at your home Link
Let's Have Your Opinion On Banning Shisha Smoking In Public Places, In One Click
Health, Safety and the Environment in Manchester
Visitors will find the environment in Manchester is excellent with no extreme high temperatures or extreme cold but plenty of rain which makes it always fresh. Manchester has no heavy industry, which is not good for people want to work in this field but good for the visitors' environment.
Manchester surrounded by countryside, and when you travel in any direction, it is not more than 15 to 20 minutes before you find yourself in the country although some routes are better than the others.
Let us try to make First Of May
Public Awareness Day Of The Danger Of Shisha Smoking In Public Places.
The other good thing about Manchester is the water, and the visitors will find it pleasant, and it is of outstanding quality, natural and rich in minerals as it is not purified or proceed to be drinkable water. Some of Manchester visitors will find out that they can drink water straight from the taps instead of the bottled water which they used to all their life. Manchester water supplied from the lakes in the Lake District north of Manchester, and that is why it is arguably good and better water quality than the one in other cities in England and taste better than other cities including the capital, London.
However, Manchester has two issues with the environment, which are like the one often seen in many big cities:
First, when one walk in town you pass areas where the freshness of Manchester disappears and the smell of the air fluctuates between the smell of wee and weed and one do not know which one to prefer. Although, most the people that we walked with when the subject brought up would prefer the latter. However, the police presence now is more visible to tackle the drugs problems in the city and probably breathing of the fresh air will cover the whole town again.
The second is the congestion in and around the city which is the aim of Manchester mayor now to solve it as this is a severe problem for the town and hope the mayor Mr Andy Burnham will manage to arrange to solve it soon as he is working hard to tackle it.
From our recent experience of the congestion, we are mentioning two. The first was when we took visitors to Liverpool to spend the day there and when we came back it took us two hours and 45 minutes to drive from Albert docks to Oxford Road in Manchester city centre. The journey usually takes around an hour so in the hour and 45 to 2 hours we were polluting the environment between A602 and the city centre where the car was running all the time to move a few metres now and then. One of the visitors commented, what will happen when all these cranes come down, and the buildings occupied !!!! Also, one of the visitors was so fed up and decided to walk it after spending a good time in the car, and he got to the city before us.
The second was on a Saturday afternoon, we were meeting people in Home Bar and Restuarant, and they were travelling from Wilmslow, and it took them about 3 hours to get to us. They kept phoning to apologise and to update us of no much change of their location and being stuck in bad traffic, which got worse when they reached the Mancunian way.
No one knows when this problem to be solved, but if you have to travel by car, please make sure that you have a lot of fuel in the tank. We think it is terrible and awful for the environment this congestion and we hope the mayor will succeed to solve otherwise more, and more people will be suffering and stuck in this situation especially when all the cranes come down as Manchester visitor said and the situation will be worse, and Manchester will not be attractive to visitors or people work in it as reported in the Manchester Evening News . The newspaper that knows Manchester better than anyone else and we should listen to their views and their readers' views and consider them.
Manchester Evening News reported that people are turning down jobs for 50,000.00 salaries, which nearly twice the average national salary because of the congestion.
People are 'turning down £50,000 jobs' to avoid having to drive into Manchester
Full Manchester Evening News Article
Also, we think traffic jam and continues congestion will cause so many problems to people which is clear and we are not going to elaborate on it but we invite anyone who can to send their input.
How safe is Manchester?
If you take the view of someone living in Manchester for a very long time, it's a safe city with a few exceptions because Manchester is not a Disney Land it is a real and big city that attracts all sort of people and from all walks of life. Some here in Manchester to steal and pickpocketing from Manchester visitors or new students and they are active mostly in holiday seasons and the beginning of the study year in the universities where they find a lot of preys and their journey and travel money would be worthwhile to spend. There are others more serious crimes in Manchester, you may read about but this is mostly not directly directed to visitors apart from competing may be to sell the visitors drugs to the drug users.
To be safe in Manchester or in any big city, don't attract criminals by
Flashing money, jewellery and expensive items.
Walking in dark streets, especially alone.
Having your wallet or purse easily reachable to the gangs that targeting you as a tourist or newcomer and you still venerable as you looking around to find places of interest or to eat and you forget your belongings and sometimes not aware what happened to them till late. You must remember that you have to be lucky all the times not to have your belongings stolen and they only have to be lucky once. Don't make them lucky and spoil your holiday.
Food Safety
The last thing you want to happen to you when you get to your holiday distension is getting food poison when you buy takeaway or eat in a restaurant that have bad hygiene reputation because you new to the area and don't know the good places to eat and where, so before ordering your takeaway or go to restaurants to eat check the place hygiene reputation till you find your favourite places and know where to eat or order your food from .
The hygiene ratings in Manchester are as follows.
5 = Very Good.
4 = good.
3 = generally satisfactory.
2 = improvement necessary.
1 = major improvement necessary.
0 = urgent improvement necessary.
Find the hygiene ratings before you order by clicking below, then insert name and town of the business.
Check the hygiene rating before you order or buy your food here.
----------------------------------
side
Visitorsinmanchester.com visits cities that are ahead of Manchester as tourists attraction sites to measure and see changes in the cities and the effect of tourism on local people as a result. Milan, Lisbon and Madrid visited recently. Madrid is chosen to elaborate on as Madrid regularly visited in the past and at present and one can notice the differences more than the other two cities.
Milan the fashion city and it is more sophisticated than other Italian cities and the Milanese think so, and they consider themselves more as European than Italians. Milan is very popular for a city break and popular destination for fashion lovers and wealthy people from Japan, Middleton Eastern countries, Korea and Russia in particular. They visit Milan to full their wardrobes with the latest in fashionable garments, shoes, handbags and accessories and to enjoy Milan and the surrounding districts.
Lisbon is becoming a more popular holiday destination for the visitors, as a city break and it is catching with art and fashion and developing a style. Lisbon is the mother of all sardines and the sardine industries. Sardines diet is the main diet for the locals and the main item in the menus of the restaurants, cafes and bars. Lisbon has the most colourful and work of art outlets with different companies selling sardines. The look of these outlets more like art shops than fish shops. Lisbon pavements are another work of art each sidewalk is a piece of a mosaic that has a unique design which took a long time to produce and needs specially trained teams. In some area when you walk on the pavement, you think you are walking into a gallery of mosaic art dotted over the city.
When in Madrid one loves the menu del dia and have it nearly every day instead of the usual sandwich lunch in Manchester also love the siesta that follows the meal, which one certainly needs after the menu del dia.
There are things that one doesn’t like to see it happening in Madrid, which are part of tourism and what one calls side effects of tourism, which is incited and surviving on tourism and hope Manchester will never catch it, these are :
The pickpocketing and street stealing: Madrid visitors targeted and preyed on by organised gangsters. Many tourists spend the night in a police station, on Calle de Leganitos, specialises in dealing with Madrid visitors subjected to pickpocketing or street stealing and valuables stolen from them. Usually, after the initial enquiries about what to do when the nightmare happened. Visitors will be instructed to go to the police station on Calle de Leganitos where they find free phones to report the stolen bank cards to their banks. Then they have to spend hours waiting for their turn to report the incident and describe what has been taken in details, how much cash stolen, in which currencies and if they have noticed anyone suspicious or seen who has done to characterise. In the police station, they have albums of photos if one can recognise them. At the end of the reporting, the person(s) who had the incident sign and have a copy of the police report which is good for the insurance if you have it but usually nothing else follows, as the stolen never return. We have witnessed a pickpocket reporting, and after seeing the gang who have done, it was actively hunting their prey the following day and reported them to the police. No action could be done as the three of them were underage and can not be prosecuted. Although these underaged groups may be controlled by adults which one can see them communicating with, still no action can be taken against the adults unless they do it themselves !!!!
Pickpocketing and stealing in Madrid streets and public place spoil the pleasure of being in Madrid and gives Madrid a bad reputation, and it is in the increase, and if nothing is done about it, it will damage Madrid reputation. The longer it is left without a solution the harder it will get to solve as the gangster get richer and more organised. A few years ago a businessman from the middle east on a trip to buy shoes from Italy and England for his shops and we recommended Spain to add to his selection of shoes and to his destination. After his visit to Italy and England, he left for Madrid and at the airport he had his briefcase stolen. He was mad with us to recommend a country full thieves for him ( as he described Spain, which is not true and that is what we mean by bad reputation ) and he booked a flight to England the following day. No matter how much you explain to people how good the people in a country are, when things like stealing and pickpocketing happens especially on their first day, they will not believe it.
store and change according to ....
Street sellers: first we saw them in Milan and now they are increasing in number in Madrid, men selling roses, plastic and flying articles etc. approach people in the streets, the restaurants, cafes and bar. Sometimes they start very polite and friendly then persistent and turns to abusive if you don't buy from them as these guys have targets of sales and control by other people as we learned from a Milanese friend. Then you have groups of coordinated street sellers who sell faked designers handbags, sunglasses and faked designers garments displayed on about 1.5 by 1.5-meter bedding sheets like that have a few strings that when pulled convert the display sheet into a parcel that sellers put on their back to move on to a new location to display their goodies. After another a few minutes or until they have a single to pull the strings and move on. In Milan, someone told us that the sellers there are under the control of people who provide them with the goods and sometimes the accommodation. They earn from commissions on the sales of items supplied by a warehouse in the city centre that provide them with articles suitable for the time of the day or the weather condition. When there is rain you see them selling umbrellas, then they swoop them to sunglass, day toys, night toys with light, scarves etc. all these goods provided by the warehouse and they settle the count of goods and money on the return. We do not know if Madrid has the same system of selling.
Anyone from Madrid can give or tell what they think of the situation and any visitors who have an opinion about it please give us your feedback.
Street Prostitution: Central Madrid had a pocket of prostitutes hanging around for clients in the back streets on one side of the Gran Via for awhile and three years ago started to move to the other side of the Gran Via more and more in number and cover of the area towards Sol. Everytime one visits Madrid see more of Prostitutes holding positions to street corners, under the trees, shop windows up to nearly now to the police station on YYY street. The number has increased to the limit that you hear them arguing about whose the position belongs to and see them fighting for it.
Street Prostitution: Central Madrid had a pocket of prostitutes hanging around for clients in the back street on one side of the Gran Via. 3 years ago they started to move to the other side of the Gran Via, and the number has increased and so the area coverage moving towards Sol. Everytime one visits Madrid see more of Prostitutes holding positions in the street corners, under trees, shop windows up to the police station on YYY street between Gran Via and Sol. The number has increased to the limit that sometimes you hear them arguing about whose the position belongs to and see them fighting for it.
The majority if not all of the Prostitutes in this area are immigrant from less fortunate countries and not to name the countries here. These Prostitutes are sometimes used and abused by men sometimes from their own countries and others to have the business. When they succeed to get a client after a few hours waiting they take the client to a nearby the flats/buildings where they stand. A man usually waiting by the door allows the Prostitutes with the client to get to the flat and check the time. The generously of the Spanish people has been abused by a few men to make money out of these ladies willingly or not depend on the circumstances. These girls and women used continuously like just things not people as people should be loved and care for and not used or abused and only things should be used not people.
In Spain, the Prostitution by itself is not directly addressed in the Criminal Code of Spain, but exploitation such as pimping is illegal. But who is going to follow each Prostitute to check if they are working alone or they have a pimp? It is obvious they work with men in the area that provide them with flats guard by men to take the clients to do their business/job then they go to stand again in street soon after they finish with a client.
One of this site team approach a women group in Madrid when they had a tent in Sol and ask them
1 - if they aware of the prostitution problem in the area and how it is in the increase and moving towards Sol
2 - if they consider that these women are used by men
3 - If they have done anything about it or they know someone has done anything about it
They agree that prostitution is in the increase in the area and moving towards Sol and they agreed that these women are used by men but they have not done anything about it or know someone working to correct the situation. They agree that something has to be done to correct this situation and to stop women used and maybe abused by men to generate money out of them. This site agrees with them as one should be friend with and love people and use things not people. Hopes something to be done and quickly to correct this situation as described briefly here to stop these 100s of women be used and may be abused by a few men and to stop Madrid and Spain generosity receiving these women to be violated by a few men to create huge money. If this situation not corrected soon enough it will be very hard to solve as these a few men get richer and richer then they will have the resources to survive, and it will be very hard to get rid of them by anyone, and in fact, this practice maybe imposes and normalize.
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Brexit
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Anyone from Madrid can gives or tell what they think of the situation and any visitors how have options about it please both give us your feedback
V visits to cities that are a head of Man as tourists attractions sites to measure and see changes in the city and the effect on local people London Milan Lisbon and Madrid were visited . We choose Madrid to elaborate on as Madrid visited regularly and we have noticed the differences most .
Milan the fashion city and it is more sofisticated than other Italian cities especially and the Milanés think so and they consider themselves more European people than Italians .......Milan is very popular for city break and popular distenation for fashion lovers reach people from japan, Middleton Eastern countries and other rich countries they visit to
Lisbon is becoming more popular holiday distenatiion for the visitors and as a city break and it catching with art and fashion and deloping style . It is the mother of all sardines in local diets and the restaurants , cafes and bars menus. Lisbon has many outlets courfull outlets by different companies selling sardines that look like art shops than fish . Lisbon pavements are work of art all mosaic and each pavement has special design and work take long time to produce and needs especially trained teams .
Food siesta etc
Madrid tis the place that visited every year several times and to spend a few weeks for a long time and where the differences is more oviuos than the other two. The madrilions are very nice friendly and warm welcoming people. They trust worthy and they trust people the only city or place on earth I seen when the taxi driver stop the meter when not follow the right route and that happened not once but twice!!!
I love the menu daldyia when in Madrid and I have it every day instead of my usual sandwich lunch in manchester also I love the siesta after it .
There are things that one don’t like to see that happening in Madrid , which maybe are mainly part or what one calls side effects of tourism or maybe incited or survive by tourism which are
The pickpockets pickpocketing and steeling from you sits and Madrid visitors targeted and prayed by orginized gangsters . Many tourists spend nights in xxxx police station after subjected to pickpocket or valuables stolen from them . After the initial enquiries to what to do when the nightmare happened Madrid’s visitors usually instructed to go the xxx police station where they have free phones to report the stolen banks cards then they have to spend hours waiting for there turn to report the incident and describe what have been stolen in details and how much cash stolen and in which currency and if they have noticed who done it or think has / have done it . At the end of the reporting the person(s) who had the incident have a police report which is good for the insurance if you have it but usually nothing else as what have been stolen never return. We have witnessed a pickpocket reporting and after seen the group who done it actively hunting their prey the following and reporting it to the police no action could be taken as the three of them were under age and can not be prosecuted. Although these under aged groups maybe controlled by adults which you see them commucating with but still no action can be taken against the the adults enlese they do it themselves. Pickpocketing and steeling in Madrid streets and public place spoils the pleasure of being in Madrid and gives Madrid bad reputation and if nothing done about it will be in the increase . A few years ago Once we had a business man from the middle east to buy shoes from Italy and England and we recommended Spain to add to his distanation . After his visit to Italy and England he left to Madrid and at the airport he had his brief case stolen. He was mad with us and to recommend a country full a thiefs for him and booked flight to England the following day . No matter how much you explain to people how good the people in a country and these things like steeling and pickpocketing on happiness to a very a few visitors they will not believe
Street sellers: first we saw them in Milan and now they are increasing in Madrid men selling roses , plastic and flying things approach people in the streets and the plazas and restaurants, cafes and bars and sometimes they persist to buy from them ........ . Then you have group of coordinated sellers who sells designers faked
handbags, sunglasses and faked designers garments displayed on about 1.5 by 1.5 meters bedding like sheets that have a few strings that when pulled convert the display into a parcel that sellers put on their back to move on to a new place to display their goodies for another a few minutes till they have a single to pull the strings and move on .
--------------------------------------------
Prostitution was decriminalised in 1995. Prostitution itself is not directly addressed in the Criminal Code of Spain, but exploitation such as pimping is illegal.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
The only article in the Code dealing specifically with adult prostitution is Artícle 188, which bans pimping:[9]
1. El que determine, empleando violencia, intimidación o engaño, o abusando de una situación de superioridad o de necesidad o vulnerabilidad de la víctima, a persona mayor de edad a ejercer la prostitución o a mantenerse en ella, será castigado con las penas de prisión de dos a cuatro años y multa de 12 a 24 meses. En la misma pena incurrirá el que se lucre explotando la prostitución de otra persona, aun con el consentimiento de la misma''.[note 1]
Owning an establishment where prostitution takes place is in itself legal, but the owner cannot derive financial gain from the prostitute or hire a person to sell sex because prostitution is not considered a job and thus has no legal recognition.
Local governments differ in their approaches to both indoor and outdoor prostitution, usually in response to community pressure groups, and based on 'public safety'.[10] Most places do not regulate prostitution, but the government of Catalonia offers licenses for persons "to gather people to practice prostitution".[11] These licenses are used by brothel owners to open 'clubs', where prostitution takes place (the women are theoretically only 'gathered' to work on the premises not employed by the owner). Some places have implemented fines for street prostitution.[12
Prostitution was tolerated in Spain throughout the mediaeval period, until the 17th century and the reign of Phillip IV (1621–65) whose 1623 decree closed the mancebías (brothels) forcing the women out into the street, a very unpopular decision, but one that remained in place till the 19th century. In the reign of Isabel II (1843–1868) regulation was introduced, firstly in cities, the Disposiciones de Zaragoza (1845) and the Reglamento para la represión de los excesos de la prostitución en Madrid (1847), followed by the 1848 Penal Code. (Guerena 2003, 2008)
In 1935 during the Second Republic (1931-6) prostitution was prohibited. Once the Dictatorship (1939–75) was established, this law was repealed (1941). Spain became officially abolitionist on 18 June 1962, when the 1949 United Nations (UN) Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others was ratified by Spain, and the Decree 168 of 24 January 1963 modified the Penal Code (Código Penal) according to the Convention. In theory, this policy, in accordance with the Convention, regarded sex workers (trabajadores sexuales) as victims of sexual exploitation and advocated punishment of their exploiters rather than the workers themselves, and refused to distinguish between voluntary and coerced sex work.[14] However, there were inconsistencies, as the prostitutes were in fact treated more like criminals: under Act 16/1970 of 4 August on social menace and rehabilitation (Ley de peligrosidad y rehabilitación social) prostitutes were declared amongst those classes categorized as social evils, and could be confined to special centres or forbidden to live in specified areas. In practice however, prostitution was quietly ignored and tolerated.[15]
Although democracy was restored in 1975, it was not till the Penal Code revisions of 1995[16] that this policy was revisited, and most laws regarding prostitution were repealed, with the exception of those governing minors and those with mental health problems. This included the Act 16/1970. Further revisions in 1999 addressed trafficking, as did the 2000 Immigration Act which followed other European precedents by offering asylum to trafficked victims if they collaborated (Valiente 2003).
In 2012, at Santa Cruz de Tenerife 91% female prostitution and 9% transsexual prostitution[17]
Opinion remains deeply divided in Spain over prostitution, and law reform has been in a political impasse for a long time.[18] Consequently, it remains in rather a grey zone of unregulated but tolerated semi-legality. The standard debates exist as to whether it is work like any other work, or exploitation of women as espoused by groups like Malostratos.[19] Meanwhile, it thrives, and has prompted headlines such as El nuevo burdel de Europa (The New Brothel of Europe).[20][21]
The key instruments in order of importance are the Penal Code (Código penal) (1822-)[22] and the Immigration or Aliens Act (Ley de Extranjería de España) 2000.[23]
Plans:
According to a 2009 TAMPEP study, 90% of sex workers are migrants. Of all countries studied, only Italy had proportion of migrant workers at comparable level.[10][24] About 80% of these were Latin American (mainly from Ecuador, Colombia and the Dominican Republic)[25][26] However, the situation is changing rapidly owing to the arrival of Eastern European migrants (mainly Romania and Bulgaria) who now make up 25% compared to 50% from Latin America, under the context of Immigration to Spain. (There is also considerable cross-border traffic between Spain and Portugal and France. Equally, some 80% of Spanish national workers work outside Spain, mainly from economic necessity.[10])
As in other countries in Western Europe, there is concern over the presence of migrant workers on the streets and claims that many of them were coerced. In 2008 the Spanish Government announced plans to aid women who had been trafficked.[27]
There are organisations working with migrant women, including Proyecto Esperanza[28] and shelters such as IPSSE (Instituto para la Promoción de Servicios Especializados).
From 2012 to September 2013, 544 prostitutes were identified in 138 inspections in brothels of Asian prostitutes in Barcelona.[29]
On 30 November 2012, a woman from Paraguay, 34 years old, was arrested in Cuenca, when she was working in a brothel with her daughter.
Organisations working with sex workers in Spain include APRAMP (Associacion para la Prevención, Reinserción y Atención de la Mujer Prostituida)[30] while sex workers' rights organisations include Hetaira (Madrid),[31] as well as regional organisations such as SICAR Asturias,[32] AMTTTSE (Asociación de Mujeres, Transexuales y Travestis como Trabajadoras Sexuales en España, Málaga) and CATS (Comité de Apoyo a las Trabajadoras del Sexo, Murcia).
Spanish sex workers continue to be concerned about their lack of protection and in July 2011 petitioned the Minister of Health (Leire Pajín).[33] A demonstration is planned for November 6, 2011 in Madrid, and a communique has been released setting out sex workers' complaints and demands.[34
Prostitution in Spain was highly sectored, with at one end the damas cortesanas of high society,[35] and the mistresses of the bourgeoisie and barraganas, the concubines of the clergy. (Harrison)
Goya (1746–1828) frequently commented on the place of prostitution in Spanish high society[36] such as satirising the church's involvement in the trade, for profit. Best known though are his controversial Majas.[37] Other examples are Murillo's Four Figures on a Step and Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (illustrated).
In literature, Cervantes discusses prostitution in Don Quixote,[38] and the subject is found throughout 19th- and 20th-century Spanish literature.[39]
La señora Rius (see photograph) is a Barcelona celebrity and Madam who told her story in Julián Peiró's La Sra. Rius, de moral distraída (Comanegra, Barcelona 2008).[40]
In 2006, 42 people were arrested following the discover of a prostitution ring operating out of nightclubs in Las Palmas and Telde. The prostitutes were from South American countries, mainly Brazil.[41] Five people were jailed as a result.[42]
A study is 2016 estimated there were around 3,000 prostitutes working on the islands, mainly in the tourist areas and the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas.[43]
Prostitution occurs in the Ceti (Temporary Reception Center) in Ceuta. The prostitutes are mainly Nigerian women.[44]
Local NGO Melilla Acoge, which provides medical and other assistance to prostitutes, report that there are about 1,000 Moroccan prostitutes in Melilla. Some cross over the border into Melilla in the mornings and leave at midday, other cross over the border in the afternoon and leave at night.[45]
