Spanish politicians have criticised a video by the Young Socialists in Catalonia in which a woman simulates an orgasm while casting her vote. Both Socialist and opposition politicians have attacked the campaign video. The equality minister called it "misleading" advertising. In the video the young woman gets increasingly excited as she votes for the Socialist Party in this month's regional elections in Catalonia. It concludes with the phrase "Voting is a pleasure" after she puts her voting slip in the ballot box.
The leader of the conservative opposition Popular Party of Catalonia, Alicia Sanchez-Camacho, said the video was an "attack on the dignity of women". The health minister, Leire Pajin, who is a Socialist, called on all parties to show respect for women and to act responsibly. The Socialist equality minister, Bibiana Aido, said of the video: "If it was true, electoral participation would go up greatly, but I think we are dealing with a misleading advert."
The Socialist Party of Catalonia's leader, Jose Montilla, who is standing for re-election, said, "If it encourages people to vote, it's a good thing". However, speaking in a TV interview he appeared surprised to learn that it was a video by the youth wing of his own party. A spokesman for the conservative CiU party, Josep Antoni Duran Lleida, said that the "crude" video would damage participation. The leader of the Green coalition in Catalonia, Joan Herrera, said it would be "very difficult to reach orgasm voting for any of the candidates, myself included".
It is not the first controversial video to be brought out by a Catalan party ahead of the 28 November elections. An anti-racism group, SOS Racismo, says it has complained to the public prosecutor about a video game by the Popular Party, in which Alicia Sanchez-Camacho takes on the guise of film and video game heroine Lara Croft to fight illegal immigrants and pro-independence Catalans. The game was removed from the party's website hours after its launch, with the PP saying the developer did not follow instructions properly.
