Valencia bus company removes ‘explicit’ ads

THE company which placed erotic advertisements on interurban buses in Valencia will remove them.

The Valencian Mobility Agency (AVM), the public institution which manages the Metrobus service and which is dependent upon the Generalitat Valenciana, announced that the adverts, which promoted brothels and adult contact sites, would be removed from the back of the buses “immediately”.

Due to the controversy which had arisen over the adverts on the buses, and complaints from the opposition and the Women’s Institute, AVM gave the company which operates the buses three days to remove them.

Although the advertisements had been on the buses since April, Generalitat spokespersons claimed that they were not aware of their explicit content.

The Generalitat considered that the images “clearly breached Metrobus’ image and measurement requirements”. AVM also warned all other companies working under the Metrobus name to keep to the corporate image requirements and be on their guard.

Although the contracts were perfectly legal, they were considered to be “unethical” and had been condemned by the Secretary of State for Equality, Laura Seara.

The President of the Association for the Prevent and Reintegration of Prostitutes, Rocio Nieto, said “behind each ad, there is a victim of sexual exploitation”.

By Jennifer Leighfield