Prostitutes protest as trade hit by 80% with new rules

MALAGA – EVEN the oldest profession in the world is struggling financially, but in this case the cause is not the recession. Some 30 Malaga prostitutes abandoned their usual corners and gathered on the roundabouts of the Azucarera-Intelhorce road to protest against the new municipal regulations.

They hid their faces and carried banners claiming that ‘behind every prostitute, there is a person, a woman and a mother’.

The municipal regulations contemplate fines of up to €1,500 for the practice of sex in the street, or the offer or demand of sex within 200m from residential areas, schools or businesses.

Some say that the increased police presence has caused their takings to fall by 80 per cent as customers are afraid to stop. Clients now ask to go further from the usual spots to avoid fines, which the prostitutes say puts them in danger.

They have requested a meeting with Malaga Council to discuss their situation, but claim they have received no response. The main areas for prostitution in Malaga are the Guadalhorce Industrial Estate and Alameda de Colon, in the city centre.

Associations from these areas have proposed that the women be moved to the Arraijanal area near the Plaza Mayor Shopping Centre, but the associations in San Julian and Guadalmar have responded that they don’t want them on their doorstep, and some 200 took part in a protest march last week.