A fictitious travel agency, Abortion Travel, has been set up in Spain by campaigners deeply opposed to the government’s curtailment of women’s freedom to terminate pregnancies.
If the proposed reforms to the country’s abortion laws are agreed, they would be among the most restrictive in Europe. Abortion could be legal only in cases of rape or a serious risk to the mother’s health.
Polls suggest that as much as 80% of the population are against the change which would take the country back to the days when Franco ruled the nation and women had to travel abroad to have an abortion.
In April a website and a pop-up mock travel shop in Madrid were launched. "Be free in London, from €2,614." "Decide in Paris, from €1,942." "Choose in Berlin, from €2,180." These were some of the advertisements featured in the shop, which had opened for several days.
The initiative came from the Spanish arm of the Women’s European Lobby. It said it wanted to show what could happen if the law is passed.
It was only in 1985 that women were given access to legal abortion.
"Our goal is for people to realise the democratic backsliding that we are about to experience," says Cristina Rodriguez, the creative director in charge of the campaign.
