The Christian Lawyers Foundation in Spain has begun an online petition calling for the cancellation of “Scandal, Story of an Obsession,” a television series that portrays the relationship between a 42-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy.

For Christian Lawyers, the series promotes “the most absolute whitewashing of pedophilia," which “crosses the unhealthy line” of sexual attraction towards children.

“Scandal, Story of an Obsession” is a Mediaset España production that began being broadcast on Telecinco Jan. 11.

Christian Lawyers warned that this series will show scenes of explicit content “between an adult and a minor.”

The jurists charged that this production is a “disgusting normalization that minors can enjoy these relationships in which their will is annulled and their vulnerable position is abused.”

In addition, the foundation encouraged people not to tolerate “sexual violence against children being encouraged,” adding that “this abuse is sold as a romantic story to viewers.”

Christian Lawyers emphasized that to make this new series, “they have chosen a woman taking advantage of a boy because they know that society would resist accepting the story of a man abusing a girl.”

Through the signature campaign addressed to Cani Fernández Vicién, president of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), the foundation asked the Spanish lawyers “to intervene and immediately cancel the broadcast of the ‘Scandal’” series.

According to its website, the CNMC is a public agency independent of the executive branch but subject to the legislature “that promotes and preserves the proper functioning of all markets in the interest of consumers and companies.”

The Christian Lawyers Foundation explained that Fernández must intervene because the series violates the CNMC’s section on content control.

This section “prohibits the broadcast of audiovisual content that could seriously harm the physical, mental, or moral development of minors.”

The same section censors programs “that include scenes of pornography or gratuitous violence.”

Last September, Spain’s minister of equality, Irene Montero, stated that minors “have the right to know that they can love or have sexual relations with whoever they want. Based, of course, on consent.”

HazteOir.org (CitizenGo) called for an urgent protest demanding the resignation of Montero for defending pedophilia. However, Montero, a psychologist and a former congresswoman for the leftist Podemos (We Can) political party, remains in office. 

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.