‘Manspreading’ banned on public transport in Madrid

Do you know what it means manspreading🇧🇷 It’s basically when a man sits on buses, subways or trains with his legs wide open, taking up more space than he should, bothering and embarrassing other users – especially women. The Spanish news agency The Local reported on Wednesday (07) that the city of Madrid decided to ban the practice from its entire public transport system.

For Spanish women, the news is a huge reward. For many months, they have signed petitions and protested against men who insist on invading the personal space of those who sit next to them on public transport.

One of the petitions, launched by the group Women in Fight and called #MadridSinManspreading (#MadridSemManspreading, in Spanish), said that the manspreading “It is not something that happens sporadically. If you pay attention, you will see that it is a very common practice”.

The claim was sent to the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmenaand the regional president of the city, Cristina Cifuentes🇧🇷 “It is not difficult to see women with their legs closed and very uncomfortable because of a man next to them invading their space with their legs open”, continued the text.

The Madrid Municipal Transport Company (EMT), in particular, will put new signposts on all trains and buses, something it hopes will discourage commuters. manspreaders to spread while other users are in vehicles.

The EMT commented on the action: “the new flags indicate that it is forbidden to sit in certain positions that make people uncomfortable. It is to remind users to maintain civic responsibility and respect the personal space of everyone on board.”

Below, the Tweet in which the Company announces the new sign, which features a male figure practicing the manspreading along with a red “X” and the phrase “respect others’ space”. What remains unclear is whether men who continue the practice will be punished.

New York was one of the first major cities to campaign against the manspreading in public transport. Entitled Dude, please stop the spreading (Dude, Please Stop Spreading, in English), the movement, which started in 2014, saw men who practiced manspreading in the subway were arrested by the city police.