27.5% of Spanish men have paid for sex: the uncomfortable figure

27.5% of men have paid for sens: the figure nobody wants to discuss

How much is Spain's prostitution market worth? The second National Sensual Health Survey, published by the Ministry of Health and the CIS (Spain's official polling institute) with 9,009 interviews, has uncovered an uncomfortable figure: 27.5% of men admit having paid for sens at some point. 9.6% did so only once; 17.9% more than once. By contrast, only 0.3% of women said they had paid.

The figure that sparks political fury

The survey, the first of its kind since 2009, also reveals that 28% of women have been forced into unwanted practices within a relationship. But the focus has fallen on the male 27.5%. The reaction was swift: accusations of manipulation, attempts to discredit the source, and a wave of comments mixing cynicism and denialism. The curious thing is that nobody questions the methodology: 9,009 interviews and a minimal margin of error. What is being questioned is the willingness to face reality.

A black market of unknown dimensions

The study does not quantify the volume of business, but if nearly three in ten men have paid at some point, and 17.9% do so recurrently, the economic impact is enormous. This is a sector that moves billions a year, largely off the books. No VAT, no income tax, no labor oversight. And while the public debate centers on political polarization, the money flows without the tax authorities being able to keep an eye on it.

Two readings of the same number

On one side, those who see the figure as confirmation of how widespread a practice that should be eradicated has become. On the other, those who claim the survey is politicized and that 27.5% is impossible. But neither position offers an economic alternative: where does the income of the thousands of apartments and clubs surviving without declaring come from? The uncomfortable answer is that the demand exists, and it is massive.

The silence of the official narrative

The Government has made no substantive statements. The sociologist coordinating the study, whose name has not been disclosed, has become the target. Meanwhile, those implicated respond with irony: "I'm a feminist, don't look at me," or shift the focus to alleged properties owned by public officials. Just another way of not talking about the issue.

With these percentages, the question is not whether the prostitution market exists, but why it remains the great taboo of the shadow economy. Nobody wants to do the math.