Prostitution in Spain is not addressed by any specific law, but a number of activities related to it, such as pimping , are illegal. In , UNAIDS estimated there to be 70, prostitutes in the country, [1] although other estimates put the number in the , - , region. Prostitution was decriminalized in Prostitution itself is not directly addressed in the Criminal Code of Spain , but exploitation such as pimping is illegal.
Whoever causes a person of legal age to engage in prostitution or to continue to do so, with the use of violence, intimidation or deception, or by abusing a position of power or the dependency or vulnerability of the victim, shall be punished with a prison sentence of two to four years and a fine from 12 to 24 months.
Gaining profit from the prostitution of another shall incur the same penalty, even with the consent of that person. 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".
Some places have implemented fines for street prostitution. Guerena , In during the Second Republic —36 prostitution was prohibited. Once the Dictatorship —75 was established, this law was repealed In theory, this policy, in accordance with the Convention, regarded sex workers trabajadores sexuales as victims of sexual exploitation and advocated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.
In practice however, prostitution was quietly ignored and tolerated. Although democracy was restored in , it was not till the Penal Code revisions of [21] that this policy was revisited, and most laws regarding prostitution were repealed, with the exception of those governing minors and those with mental health problems. Further revisions in addressed trafficking, as did the Immigration Act which followed other European precedents by offering asylum to trafficked victims if they collaborated Valiente Opinion remains deeply divided in Spain over prostitution, and law reform has been in a political impasse for a long time.
