But there was one sight that I found somewhat disturbing though I have since found out that it is common throughout Spain.
On the side of an ordinary main road, in lay-bys, and often seated on wooden dining room chairs were women in isolated spots and seemingly quite alone. The looked at me as I cycled past with a strange sort of look. They were of course following the so called oldest profession. They were prostitutes. They were a mix of ages. Some were quite mature women with a fixed smile and others looked like ordinary teenagers, passing the time of day by talking on their mobile phone.
Were these trafficked women brought in from eastern Europe with the promise of exotic jobs in the entertainment business by organised crime? Their colouring indicated that they might be Roma but in Spain many of the local people people are deeply tanned so it was impossible to ascertain their ethnicity. Was this just the result of the deep recession of the euro zone?
I suppose the moral I draw from the experience is that wherever we are in the world there will be the attractive face that we see on the surface and there will also be a underside which may remain hidden for the most part. If we look beneath the surface view, as presented by the tourist brochures, we will begin to see the real world that makes up the everyday experience of the local people for whom this is home.
Yesterday I saw the following slogan on a tee shirt which spoke to me of the plight of women in this sort of situation:
Feminism - teaching girls to be somebodies instead of somebody's.
Image courtesy of mapichai / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
