'Censored' ad sparks row in Spain

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Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has said it will stop advertising in Spain to protect its "creative freedom" after being forced to withdraw an ad.

D&G accused Spain of having a "climate of censorship" after it was accused of "justifying" violence against women.

It said the move was unavoidable, although not in the firm's interest.

The offending advertisement shows a bare-chested man pinning a woman to the ground by her wrists while another man looks on passively.

It was outlawed in Spain last month after a government body, the Women's Institute of Spain, and a consumer group, branded it as glorifying "chauvinist violence".

It was later banned in Italy. It has now been pulled from all world markets.

'Alternative strategies'

"Following the harsh criticism levelled by the Spanish authorities against an image in (one of our) publicity campaigns... Dolce and Gabbana announces the withdrawal from Spain of all its advertising campaigns to protect the creative freedom that has always characterised the brand," the company said in a statement.

"Recently, Spain, with its climate of censorship, has shown itself willing to negatively interpret all messages even when there is no reason to do so."

"Even though it goes against the interests of Dolce and Gabbana, the decision to halt brand advertising in this country has become unavoidable," it added.

A spokesman said that alternative marketing strategies would be used.

Another Italian fashion house, Giorgio Armani has been criticised by Madrid for an image in an advert for its Armani Junior range

Earlier this year, D&G was criticised in the UK over "irresponsible" adverts which showed some models wielding knives and others with graphic wounds.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the two ads could be seen as glorifying knife-related violence and were likely to cause offence.