Indoor prostitution triples in Madrid: more than 2,000 flat-brothels operating in the region
Human trafficking networks have relocated en masse to private dwellings. ABC documents how the figure nearly trebles the 800 properties recorded three years ago.
More than 2,000 flat-brothels in Madrid, triple the number from three years ago
Numbers 127 and 133 on Paseo de las Delicias, in the Arganzuela district, have concentrated for years what victim support organisations describe as vertical brothels: buildings dedicated almost entirely to human trafficking for sexual purposes, dismantled repeatedly by the National Police and reoccupied shortly after. According to ABC, this image is replicated today in more than 2,000 flats distributed across the Madrid region.
The figure nearly trebles the 800 properties that the same media outlet documented three and a half years ago. The organisations consulted also warn that the actual figure could be even higher: the mobility of the mafia makes any systematic mapping difficult, and the surge in holiday rental flats has facilitated new spaces of operation. The gangs barely need to prove their credentials to rent a dwelling, and the owners, in many cases, do not ask for explanations in exchange for payment.
From Marconi estate to private dwellings
The Unit against Immigration Networks and Forgery (Ucrif) in Madrid, which celebrated 25 years in April, has been documenting the displacement for years. Police operations against street prostitution in areas such as the Marconi estate in Villaverde—where up to 200 women were working—Montera Street, Gran Vía or Casa de Campo have noticeably reduced the presence on public streets. Street prostitution is barely visible today in the capital.
The move indoors is not accidental. The home is protected by constitutional inviolability, which requires prolonged and well-documented investigations before a court authorises a search warrant. Added to this is the difficulty of obtaining complaints from the victims themselves, a step that in many cases is essential to advance the investigation.
In recent weeks, Ucrif dismantled the so-called Edén de Anita, a brothel which, according to the unit, raffled women among clients and offered sexual services to electricians and workers in exchange for not charging for repairs to the premises.
"We do not fight against immigrants, but against the mafia"
The Provincial Brigade for Foreigners and Borders has 400 officers, and the central services account for nearly a thousand more. The Ucrif, created on 27 April 2001, organises its human trafficking section into four operational groups according to the origin of those involved: networks from Asia, Europe, South America and Africa, each with its own modus operandi.
"Spain is a country that is a gateway for others, especially for people arriving from Africa and Latin America, and specialised units became necessary," explains the chief inspector of the Human Trafficking Section, Víctor de las Heras. "We do not fight against immigrants, but against the mafia," he emphasises.
De las Heras also describes the approach with potential victims: "Half of our personnel is female and we work with special sensitivity. To a potential trafficking victim, we are the bogeyman. We generate a certain fear, because they think we are going to deport them. That is why we work undercover, we have to break down barriers."
In that process, entities such as Apramp play a central role, offering employment, housing, legal and healthcare solutions to rescued women.
Twenty-five years of changes in criminal networks
In the quarter-century that has elapsed since the creation of Ucrif, the structures of organised crime linked to human trafficking have changed significantly. The figure of the violent pimp at the head of large organisations—such as the one known as Cabeza de Cerdo, considered at the time to be Europe's largest pimp and now in prison—has given way to less visible formats: platforms such as OnlyFans, the euphemisms of "escorts" or "image girls" in nightclubs, and financial transactions concealed under the appearance of public relations.
Traditional clubs have also evolved. "We look into whether the woman encourages a man to buy a drink and she receives a cut, or whether she has to give part of it to the owner," explains De las Heras. Many of those establishments have closed and redirected their activity: they rent flats, install a bar where they serve drinks and, according to the unit, in some cases drugs are also sold.
As for methods of control over victims, the profile of the so-called Romanian loverboy—the boyfriend who forces his own partner into exploitation—remains active. The use of voodoo to extort Nigerian women, by contrast, has disappeared since an African spiritual leader banned its use for that purpose.
Source: ABC