The Municipalidad de San José succumed to pressure by a series of reports by Telenoticias on the flourishing massage parlour industry in Barrio Amón and the municipality’s lack of enforcement, closed four locals Friday.
Telenoticias, local channel 7 news team, offered all week a series of reports about massage parlours in old Barrio Amón operating with impunity, some without licenses, brothels and all without municipal control.
Rafael Arias, assistant to San José’s mayor, Johnny Araya, said that the closures were affected after the massage parlours were found in violation of health and security regulations and did not have their registries up to date.
Arias said that on inspection they found that none of the locations have tourists nor anyone else as guests and that on closer inspection they found sexual services being offered, but that is a matter for the judicial police, the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ).
The actions by the municipality came on a Friday afternoon of a long weekend, which means that the establishments cannot act to conform to regulations until Tuesday at the earliest.
Municipal officials confirm that their action was motivated by the television news reports that aired at 7pm every night this past week, detailing the workings of the massage parlous, many licenses as a “pension” or “hotel”, but in fact operating as brothels.
The news reports clearly blamed the lack of municipal controls and municipal officials who, for some reason or others, have not acted, converting the upscale Barrio Amón into a a den for prostitution.
Notwithstanding the closure, Arias was quick to point out that the businesses can re-open in a few days if they comply with municipal codes. Arias added that the businesses have 22 days to comply with all municipal codes before becoming permanently closed.
Municipal officials said that they will be continuing their series of inspections and closures and will be working close with the Ministerio de Seguridad and the OIJ to detect businesses that offer sexual services, in Barrio Amon and other communities in San José.
According to an official report, there are more than 100 massage parlours in San José that offer sexual services by young women, and in some cases men, ranging in prices from ¢5.000 to ¢20.000 colones for a half hour to an hour.
So far this year the OIJ has detained four individuals running a massage parlour that were really a front for a house of prostitution. The four were charged with pimping, which is punishable by prison.
The four masage parlours “clausurado” by the municipality are New Fantasy, Zona Blue, Musas and 70E, all massage parlours featured in the Telenoticias reports.
