The Spanish army discriminates against aspiring tattooed women?

Although tattoos are not considered sacrilege in the 21st century, they are still considered sacrilegious for the most conservative sectors, especially if they are the militia.

This is the case of Estela Martín a 30-year-old Madrilenian who, because of her military vocation, left everything to realize her dream of belonging to the country. Spanish army. However, she saw how her illusions disappeared before her eyes after being rejected for having a tattoo on her instep.

In an interview with the newspaper El País in Spain, Estela said that during her swimming test her tattoo was completely exposed to the eyes of the president of the court, a lieutenant colonel who did not hesitate a second to say that She was not "fit" to be military. "According to his argument, in case he has to use a fault, the tattoo would be visible, something that is forbidden when" the different modalities of uniforms of the Armed Forces are brought ".

Like Estela, another The woman ran with her fate, however, it happened with two men.The two midshipmen were tattooed on the calves and heel of Achilles, but that did not stop them from pursuing their military aspirations.

Given what happened, Estela wanted to know why these rules only applied to women.The answer he received from the president of the court was that men may have tattoos from the ankle to the groin because the trousers cover them with no problem.

The woman continued her protest by claiming that the women also wore trousers and wore skirts only when They wore their uniform and in this c they also wore black stockings to cover the tattoo. However, her statements were not helpful, because the lieutenant colonel sentenced her with "your superior can force you to wear a skirt even if you do not want to."

Feeling discriminated against and humiliated, Estela Martín "appealed the Undersecretariat for Defense and sent a letter to Minister Margarita Robles in which, using the right of petition, she asks that she be allowed to pbad the exams with the rest of the candidates during the resolution of the case. "

El País he communicated with the Undersecretariat for Defense, an institution that responded by ensuring that" the rules uniformity be revised to provide a more time-consistent interpretation. "