The PSOE-IU coalition government in San Miguel de Salinas has ignored the Valencian Generalitat’s Grievance Office’s (Ombudsman’s Office) request for an explanation regarding a complaint about the presence of billboards in several locations in the town centre advertising sexual services in brothels.
The San Miguel Arcángel Residents’ Association, which filed the complaint, believes that the local government’s attitude contradicts its promotion of activities against gender-based violence throughout the year, such as the purple point at festivals, the campaign for gender-free spaces at the market and contests in educational centres to raise awareness about gender-based violence.
“The inaction in the case of the brothel’s billboards, considered illegal by law, does not seem to be in line with the principles it claims to defend,” according to the same source.
For residents, the City Council, as the highest guarantor of local legal compliance, must maintain exemplary conduct in this regard and cannot ignore its commitments, no matter how unpleasant they appear.
What the law says
Residents say that Article 3 of the General Advertising Law, passed in 2024, considers advertising that “promotes prostitution” to be illegal; thus, the Ombudsman’s Office suggests and recommends that the City Council rule on whether or not to start a case for “illegal advertising.” This article prohibits advertising that violates human dignity or the values and rights recognised in the Spanish Constitution, including those that present women in a degrading manner or use their bodies as mere objects. However, it does not explicitly mention “advertising that promotes prostitution.”
One of the advertisements promotes the 24-hour “gentlemen’s club” “Champagne and Girls.”
According to the same sources, the neighbourhood group’s petition and the Ombudsman’s procedure have been languishing in a municipal office drawer for more than six months without being addressed.
The Association submitted a petition to Town Hall asking the removal of various advertising signs, including two for a brothel on the municipality’s western ring road.
A complaint was filed with the Ombudsman, Ángel Luna, pressing the City Council to respond to the letter.
The group got a resolution from the Office of the Comptroller indicating that, after the deadline, the Valencian Ombudsman had not received a response from the City Council.
According to the same sources, Good Governance standards, which are legally recognised, require public bodies, in this case the City Council, to react to resident requests in a timely and reasoned manner.
According to the Ombudsman’s resolution, the legal responsibility to resolve the administrative procedure aimed at replying to the promoter association’s claim about the posters and billboards that the promoters feel violate legal regulations was broken.
Good administration
Furthermore, they reiterate that the right to Good Administration (governed by Article 9 of the Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community and Article 41 of the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights) is violated, which states that citizens have the right to have their affairs handled by Administrations in a reasonable time.
Author: Derek Appleton
Capture the Magic: The Spiral Hill Session
Weekend Wonders on the White Coast
No Comment! Be the first one.