"The police can fine me but I'm not planning to pay. It doesn't bother me"

The automobile stops at an industrial park at around 3pm and four women wearing jeans and fleeces — the kind that sell at bargain prices at sports stores — get out. They are carrying heavy backpacks, which they soon put down near the curb. Behind them is a large billboard advertising a printing company. Within seconds and despite the heavy traffic, the women begin shedding their clothes in favor of miniskirts, pointy high-heel boots, and tops that reveal a lot of cleavage. Even though the police in Alcal¨¢ de Henares have spent a month patrolling the area and issuing fines to anyone offering sexual services, the more rebellious prostitutes — such as the four that have just arrived — continue to work the streets.

Between December 1 and January 31, city officials issued 131 citations against women who practice prostitution in prohibited places around Alcal¨¢ de Henares, such as within 200 meters of businesses and schools. Last June, the city council passed an ordinance imposing fines from 1,500 euros to 3,000 euros for such infractions. The new law went into effect two months ago.

But now the women, who sought legal representation with the help of several organizations, are planning to appeal their fines and fight the regulations. One of the arguments offered by the groups helping the prostitutes is that the women neither hold bank accounts nor make social security contributions, which makes it difficult for the authorities to collect a fine or embargo any property.

Javier Fern¨¢ndez, the security councilor, said the ordinance was designed to put "pressure" on street workers and end prostitution.

The battle against prostitution, argues Fern¨¢ndez, is very similar to the fight against the botell¨®n — outdoor street parties where young people get together to drink alcohol. "You attack it on one side but it just keeps moving to another district," he says. "There has been a significant reduction at all of Alcal¨¢'s entry points, but prostitution persists. But we will keep working to end it — there should be no doubt about that."

Despite the obvious difficulty of the undertaking, his determination is clear. Why prostitution is more abundant in some places and not others has puzzled municipal leaders for decades. The sex trade, police sources say, involves human trafficking, drug dealing and organized crime. It is an [SIMBOLO_EURO][/SIMBOLO_EURO]18-billion-a-year business in Spain, a country where prostitution laws are murky, and there is no easy solution. When it is combated in one area, it immediately appears in another. Over the last few years, the police have embarked on a new strategy of chasing down prostitution wherever it crops up. The results and their consequences still remain to be seen.

One woman, who identified herself as Carla, a 23-year-old Colombian, puts on her lipstick with the help of a car's wing mirror. Inside her purse is an energy drink. "The police came, gave me a fine and told me that I cannot be here. OK, I say. When they get into the car, I get back on the street. I am not going to pay any fine they give me. I'm not bothered," she says, as she stands on a street in the La Garena industrial park, located at the entrance of Alcal¨¢.

"None of us are going to pay. Let them come after us," she says, defiantly.

The majority of the prostitutes consider the ordinance an outrage. Cristina Garaiz¨¢bal, a spokeswoman for Hetaira, a collective of women in defense of the rights of prostitutes, believes that the law in Alcal¨¢ de Henares discriminates against sex workers: "It criminalizes and punishes sex workers without explaining why. It's a very puritanical and reactionary law."

This is no way to solve the city's problems of coexistence, she says. "You have to negotiate the use of public spaces because the repressive tactics used by the police do not make much sense. There should be an open dialogue," Garaiz¨¢bal believes.

The group, which takes the name that was given to women who worked as prostitutes in ancient Greece, advocates the unionization of all sex workers, as well as recommending that they be allowed to make social security contributions, and that abuse complaints are monitored. In short, Garaiz¨¢bal wants to defend their rights as workers.

Sandra, a Uruguayan woman who has lived in Spain for three years, thinks the same. "Nobody asked us. They could have given us a space where no one would bother us and we would not bother anyone else."