Spain Breaks Up Male-Prostitute Trafficking Gang

[TampaYankee]

Spain Breaks Up Male-Prostitute Trafficking Gang

DANIEL WOOLLS | 08/31/10 08:58 AM | AP

MADRID — Spanish police say that for the first time they have broken up a human-trafficking gang that brought men to the country to work as prostitutes, providing them with Viagra, cocaine and other stimulant drugs to be available for sex with other men 24 hours a day.

Authorities arrested 14 people, mainly Brazilians, on suspicion of running the organization and another 17 alleged prostitutes for being in Spain illegally, the National Police said in a statement Tuesday.

Police inspector Jose Nieto said the case involving the Brazilians was the first in which Spanish authorities dismantled a ring in which traffickers brought in men, rather than women, to toil as sex workers.

The victims, men in their 20s and estimated to number between 60 and 80, were mainly recruited in northern Brazil and saddled with debts of up to euro4,000 ($5,000) as the cost of bringing them to Spain.

Some were duped into thinking legitimate jobs awaited them as go-go dancers or models; others knew they would be working in the sex industry, but not that they had to be prepared for sex around the clock and would be moved from one province to another depending on demand for their services, Nieto told a news conference.

The men had to give half their earnings to the gang, and pay for rent and food in the apartments where they worked.

"If the men complained or caused any kind of problem, the gang leaders would threaten them, even with death," the police statement said.

The arrests were made in recent weeks and the alleged ringleader is a Brazilian based in Palma on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca.

Besides Viagra and cocaine, the men were given marijuana and the club scene drug known as 'poppers', the police statement said.

Sex is a multibillion-dollar industry in Spain, with brothels staffed mainly by poor immigrant women from Latin America, Africa and eastern Europe lining highways just about everywhere and respectable daily newspapers brimming with ads from people selling their bodies. Prostitution falls in legal limbo: it is not regulated, although pimping is a crime.

See original article at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/31/spain-breaks-up-male-pros_n_700334.html

[TotallyOz]

Fascinating article. I know many of the Rio boys that go there and they all tell me that they have to pay a big amount for their plane ticket. I know of one lad who went and was there for over a year before it was paid back. I told him I would pay for his return and he said, no that he was making more money in Spain.

I guess I missed some of the other articles on the board. Is prostitution legal in Spain?

[Guest tomcal]

I guess I missed some of the other articles on the board. Is prostitution legal in Spain?

It seems to be the same as in Brazil. Making money off prostitution is illegal, i.e. Pimps! but not illegal for the actual worker. Here's a article written in a gay spanish website:

Brothels have been illegal since 1956 (according to worldsexguide.org), but the vast majority of brothels are loosely disguised as whiskerías or 'clubs' and are left to function as normal. On the other hand, prostitutes are able to practice their trade freely and advertise frequently in the 'Relax' section of the classifieds in newspapers and magazines written in thinly veiled sexual jargon.

[TampaYankee]

... written in thinly veiled sexual jargon.

I didn't know I shared a common language with my Spanish brothers.

[msclelovr]

Why wasn't I told about this when I was on holiday in Palma de Mallorca in August?

BTW as I understand the legal situation in Spain, prostitution remains illegal but socially tolerated. There are classified ads in the newspapers by female and male sex-workers. Brothels exist in the major cities in Spain and are left undisturbed provided they do not cause problems for their neighbours in residential areas.

[Guest Matrix]

When I was in Barcelona, years ago, it seemed as though it was a part of the culture. God I miss Barcelona.

It also could be, as it is here, election time there. They always go after the sinners for votes....