The Nationalist faction in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) tolerated the practice, but prostitution was actively opposed by the Catholic Church.
During the 1940s, state policy was more tolerant of it, and allowed officially sanctioned brothels to serve the "needs" of men and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
In 1956, the tolerance of prostitution that had been shown by the government of Francoist Spain largely ended, as a result of a number of factors, including the joining of international bodies dedicated to stopping the human trafficking of women.
Accusations of prostitution have been used as slanders against women as a form of disempowerment dating back to the Christian Bible.
[3][8][9][6][10] Fascists would slander political enemies of being or supporting prostitutes, as demonstrated through the spread of venereal disease which hurt a country on the whole.
It was supposed by Pope Pius XII's 1951 direction on the purpose of Christian marriage, which said, "In accordance with the Creator's will, matrimony, as an institution of nature, has not as a primary and intimate end the personal perfection of the married couple but rather the procreation and upbringing of new life.
[14] The 1935 decree banning prohibition was overturned in 1941, when the regime made prostitution legal, with the purpose of providing economic relief for women and combating sexually transmitted diseases among men.
Aligned with Roman Catholic interests, it served as an arm of the regime, seeking to monitor prostitutes and to rehabilitate these women, to bring them into line with Spanish definitions of womanhood.
[16] According to Paul Preston, "The increase in prostitution both benefited Francoist men who thereby slaked their lust and also re-assured them that 'red' women were a fount of dirt and corruption".
[19] Prostitution was tolerated by the Catholic church during parts of the Franco period, as it was seen as a way to provide marital harmony by giving men a relief valve.
[19] These women would be taken to prisons and reformatory institutions that "were the correct scientific response to the problem of prostitution from the psychological and pedagogical points of view".
Relaxation has reached such extreme, that sexual illicit relationships "almost dress well" in all spheres social, immoralities are recorded among the family members themselves, with sometimes the most serious and disgusting.
"[19][22] The government of the 1940s largely only recognized prostitution as a societal problem effecting cities, showing a lack of understanding of the economic situation in rural areas.
Per 1,000 people, Jaén, Palma de Mallorca, Ourense, Cádiz, and Málaga had the largest number of prostitutes.
[23] During the 1940s, Luna represented an extreme case as 10 were found guilty of having abortions, in what appeared to be a co-ordinated effort to hide the existence of an under-age prostitution ring.
Culturally, their virility was held in high esteem, and they faced few consequences for having sex outside of marriage, as it demonstrated their regime-endorsed masculinity.
The Church taught the practice was a mortal sin, along with the use of contraception which they argued was lowering birth rates in Spain and evidence of further immorality in society.
The text described prostitution as an infection, which needed a moral antibiotic to cure, with the state serving as the doctor to fix this illness.
[13] An instructive order was issued on 26 April 1956 which explained the need to isolate the worst cases by providing accommodation in specialized facilities for single and pregnant teenagers.
The government allocated ten million pesetas (US$100,000) yearly to maintain these prison-like facilities holding over 3,000 women.
The government blamed this on the failure to transmit the importance of ethical values inside a family, the large number of leisure places where these women could work, the media, consumer-driven culture, tourism, increased affluence among the Spanish people, and religion being deficient in passing along values that condemned prostitution.
[28] In the period between 1974 and 1978, feminists protested for amnesty for women, including those convicted of abortion, contraception, adultery, and prostitution-related offenses who were in prison.
Feminists also held protests in support of the decriminalization of adultery, equality in the workforce, the right to assembly, the ability to strike, and the suppression of images the movement felt were degrading to women.
[13] Lesbians in Francoist prisons were charged with prostitution, instead of homosexuality, which makes it impossible to determine their numbers, when compared to gay men.