Isha Sesay
VALENCIA may hit an individual with a €3,000 fine if they are caught making a racist, sexist, xenophobic or homophobic comment in public.
Under a new proposal to tackle the scourge of street harassment, Valencia City Council hopes to put a stop to conduct that ‘threatens a person’s freedom’.
These offences, although not considered a crime in Spain, would be classified as very serious if introduced in the coming months.
The Councillor for Citizen Protection, Aaron Cano, said the fine would act as an ‘important tool for the safety of others’ and ‘create a city where an individual’s rights and freedoms are guaranteed’.
“We want to put an end to situations that are not deemed a crime, that cannot go to court and escapes regulation,” said Cano.
In this way, the penalty will act as a preventative measure for more serious behaviours with the councillor describing it as a ‘sanction for pre-criminal acts’.
The proposal will now have to be approved by municipal groups before being officially introduced.
This year, Spain has been plagued with suspected homophobic attacks, first with the murder of 24-year-old Samuel Luiz in La Coruña, Galicia.
Just one day after he was brutally beaten to death, another young man was assaulted in Valencia city’s Plaza Honduras.
According to Orienta, the local support group for LGTBIQ+ people in the region, the unidentified victim was accosted by a group of men who first threw a spate of homophobic insults before leaving him with considerable injuries.
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