Alex Trelinski
BENIDORM is clamping down on shop window and street displays featuring items with obscene messages in English and Spanish.
T-shirts are among the main offenders and the council now wants businesses to clean up their act.
Slogans of mainly a sexual nature predominate and have been around for many years.
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Fines of between €1,500 and €3,001 are viewed as a last resort as the authority has launched a campaign aimed at businesses.
They want an end to public display of items to passers-by which feature homophobic, sexist, racist, profane or sexually explicit messages.
The push is both to clean up the city’s image and to ensure local laws are followed.
Benidorm’s commerce councillor, Javier Jorda, said: “Some of these displays can be classified as illegal as they infringe advertising rules and the protection of children.”
A Municipal Ordinance strictly bans the display of items that may offend people’s moral sensitivity.
“Most of these goods fall into that category,” Jorda insisted.
“It is about preventing minors or vulnerable groups from being exposed to offensive messages in the middle of public roads.”
Around 20 shops were visited on Tuesday with a request to remove any item with offensive writing from window displays.
Retailers are not prohibited from having the goods within their store.
Javier Jorda emphasised that legal action would only be taken by the council as a last resort.
“We don’t want to reach that point, but have to ensure that rules are respected to project a good impression of the city.”
“Our hope is that the campaign will be enough for businesses to stop exposing this type of item to the public,” Jorda concluded.
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