Third woman objects to her image being used within Spanish ‘beach body’ campaign

Advertising poster used by the Spanish equality ministry in its "beach body" campaign.
The poster used within the advertising campaign has now received three objections by British women for using their images without prior consent. Credit: Spanish Equality Ministry

A Spanish “beach body” advertising campaign, aimed at encouraging women to head to the beach regardless of how they physically look, has now seen a third woman complain that her image was used without permission being sought. 

Juliet FitzPatrick, a cancer survivor who underwent a double mastectomy, has raised concerns that a woman used within the promotion might have been based on her. 

Ms FitzPatrick tweeted that she believes her face “has been superimposed” onto the body of a woman who was pictured as having a single mastectomy. 

'Every woman's body is beach ready', says Spanish government's summer campaign

She added that a British photographer, Ami Barwell, believes two images she took of Ms FitzPatrick have been “used and manipulated”. 

Since the campaign was launched last week, by Spain’s equality ministry, three British women have come forward to say they believe their images have been used without permission. 

Last Friday, Nyome Nicholas-Williams, a British model, made the first complaint, which was followed by a separate objection from fellow model, Sian Green-Lord. 

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...

Ms Green Lord said her prosthetic leg had also been edited out of the poster.

An apology has been issued by the creator of the campaign, Arte Mapache, for using those images without consent.

"Given the - justified - controversy over the image rights in the illustration, I have decided that the best way to make amends for the damages that may have resulted from my actions is to share out the money I received for the work and give equal parts to the people in the poster," the artist said.

"I hope to be able to solve all this as soon as possible, I accept my mistakes and that is why I am now trying to repair the damage caused," she added.