“TEDDY GIRLS” IN SPAIN

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28150, 13 December 1956, Page 10

“TEDDY GIRLS” IN SPAIN

Newspapers Discuss Madrid Problem

(From a Reuter Correspondent) MADRID. “Teddy Girls,” or gamberras as they are called in Spanish, are becoming a problem in Madrid. A typical incident was described by the newspaper “El Alcazar”: “Recently, a senorita accompanied by several youths, who had all been drinking, set off one night to fish in the Manzanares river in order, they said, to find out whether the fish slept at night. “They caught nothing, but the senorita saw a small gypsy boy and offered him 100 pesetas to hold out his hand so that she could see if she could cast with her rod and hook his hand. “They boy refused, but the male escorts of the girl held the small boy until the girl made her cast and buried the hook in his arm. The senorita and the young men then ran away. “These ‘Teddy Girls’ are worse than their male colleagues and are completely lacking in shame. The origin lies in the custom of young women drinking in bars and taverns,” said the newspaper. The newspaper “ABC” published a letter fiom a man telling how his wife was beaten up by “Teddy Boys” (Tenorios or Gamberros, in Spanish) because she resented their surrounding her and molesting her in a street in the centre of Madrid. The woman was pregnant and as a result of the incident was taken ill and lost the child. “Our correspondent is quite right in his complaint,” was the newspaper’s comment. “There are some districts in Madrid where no woman can venture on the street without the risk of being molested by these. ‘Teddy Boys.’ “We know of similar cases of women and girls beaten up or kicked because they ventured to protest against the coarse phrases addressed to them by the ‘Teddy Boys.’ ” The newspaper “Informaciones.” commenting on the case of the woman who was attacked, said: “Madrid is a city without police. Only traffic police are seen in the centre and on the outskirts neither traffic nor other police can be seen. “More police should be available. It is necessary to take urgent measures to fight the ‘Teddy Boys’,” said the newspaper.