A GIANT BILLBOARD ADVERTISING A BROTHEL - AMAZINGLY PLACED ON A MAIN HIGHWAY!
Spain never ceases to surprise me and this is well illustrated by the above picture sent to me by a friend of mine, Graham Hunt, which he took as he was driving to Valencia. Needless to say, it is for a Club de Alterne (a brothel) conveniently located, as the billboard makes clear, next to a (probably very popular) restaurant rather appropriately called Chuletas Pepe (Pepe’s Chops).
Well, as I have written before – sex in Spain is certainly not a taboo. Indeed, if you have illusions about Spain being a prim nation and one that is a bulwark of hard line conservative Catholicism then think again. Indeed, the culture of Spain is far more complicated than it looks and the country is now one of the most liberal in Europe, having long escaped from Franco’s imposed time warp.
Indeed, the liberality of Spain (in many varying ways) is quite extraordinary and it is probably only us foreigners who are likely to crash our car when seeing a monstrous sign advertising brothels on a main highway into a city. The Spanish take this in their stride and seem to accept that sex in Spain is something to be treated robustly. Certainly, the Clubs de Alterne in Spain are prolific and can be seen on the outskirts of almost any town of any size.
Confessions of a Call Girl in Spain Clubbing Together, Spain as a Brothel Nation
Earlier this year, the biggest brothel in Spain opened up and made national news. Interestingly, I saw no uproar of protest and, as far as I am aware, it is still operating.
Mind you, it is clear that even brothels in Spain are suffering from the economic crisis. Now, around Valencia there is a price war between the brothels as they fight to stay in business after the halcyon boom years of the Spanish economy, when they seemed to be able to charge whatever they wanted. Certainly, this seemed to be the case to me some years ago when I undertook a commission to write an article on top class brothels in Spain (see Confessions of a Call Girl). However, these are hard times and promises of 50% off seems to be necessary to stimulate (if that is the right word) business.
Sex in Spain Controversial Spain
Of course, the sex industry in Spain undeniably has its dark side and this became very apparent to me when I wrote a further article about prostitution in Spain (Clubbing Together). To this day I cannot forget the tearful eyes of a young and very pretty Romanian girl as she told me about her first week working in the Club de Alterne I had visited – and that was a place where she had protection, friends and medical care. Heaven alone knows what the experience of girls working the streets must be like…
FURTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION
Confessions of a Call Girl in Spain
Clubbing Together, Spain as a Brothel Nation
Sex in Spain and the biggest Brothel in Spain