Historically, the
Spanish women's
movement, like many
others, has spent its
time dealing with basic
issues (like legal
contraception, abortion
and divorce). It is
currently facing the
problems of division and
lack of direction seen
in feminist movements
elsewhere. In recent
years, the epidemic of
spousal homicide (which
claims a woman's life
nearly every week in
Spain) and abuse has
become the major issue
for women's movements
here.
Easily available
contraception and
divorce were achieved
fairly rapidly with the
installation of
democracy in the 1970s;
abortion still isn't
available on demand,
though there have been
recent amendments to the
law to expand the
grounds on which a woman
can demand a legal
abortion.
There is a government
department for women
based in Madrid - a kind
of watchdog organization
which publishes surveys
and reports on issues
affecting women in
Spain. It supports
initiatives such as the
recent government
campaign to highlight
the problem of domestic
violence. The equivalent
resource and information
centre in the Generalitat
is the Institut Català
de la Dona.
Barcelona itself has
a fairly lively feminist
movement , and
despite a splintering
among the various
organizations there are
certain facilities used
by all groups. You'll be
welcome at events and
meetings (though
proceedings may be in
Catalan); check the
listings in
"Directory",
for addresses and
details.
Sexual harassment is
certainly a possibility
in Barcelona and the
rest of Spain but is
probably no worse than
in other European
tourist destinations. In
fact, Barcelona often
seems a much safer place
for women to walk the
streets than London or
New York. However,
without a very clear
understanding of Catalan
or Spanish it can be
hard to deal with
situations that do arise
which you'd cope with
quite routinely at home.
Common sense and
following the guidelines
we've given will help
you avoid getting into
such situations.
