Overlooked by politics, ridiculed by society, broken bones early on: Barcelona’s chambermaids have founded their own union. Out and about with women who no longer want to put up with everything.
from
Karin Janker, Barcelona
She will never forget the hand movements. Vania Arana pulls both arms up, flings them forward and pulls them back with a jerk. “That’s how you spread a sheet,” she says. Lift up the mattress, tuck it in all the way around, put the mattress down. Then do the whole thing again. Two sheets on top of each other are standard in the upscale hotels, then a third, which here in Spain usually serves as a cover. Then the next bed. It used to be hour after hour, day after day.