‘Manspreading’ banned on all public transport in Madrid

MADRID’S transport authorities are banning ‘manspreading’ on all public transport.

The term refers to the practice that sees men take up more space than they need to by sitting with their legs wide open.

The feminist group Mujeres en Lucha launched a petition on change.org to ban the practice which they said often led to seeing women “with their legs shut and very uncomfortable because there is a man next to them invading their space.”

The hashtag ‘#MadridSinManspreading’ soon went viral and the Municipal Transportation Company (EMT) announced it will be incorporating new signage to dissuade ‘manspreaders’.

An icon of a red man sitting with his legs wide apart will appear next to existing signs with the words “respect the space of others.”

Esta es la señal de los autobuses de la @EMTmadrid para respetar el espacio de los demás y evitar el #manspreading. https://t.co/dnqdMycgaO pic.twitter.com/Xwcx3bx8DG

— Ayuntamiento Madrid (@MADRID) June 7, 2017

The EMT said: “The new information icon indicates the prohibition of taking a seating position that bothers other people.”

Madrid follows other cities such as New York, which ran a poster campaign on its subway with the slogan “Dude, Stop the spread please.”

#MadridSinManspreading
Por un transporte respetuoso. Por poder ir tranquilas en el metro pic.twitter.com/B289onhooF

— MicroFeministas (@Relatofeminista) June 5, 2017