On 20 December, the Spanish Government announced that it would be making changes to the current law on abortion. These measures will make it one of the most restrictive in the world; even prohibiting the termination of a pregnancy in cases where the foetus is malformed.

Our goal was to raise awareness among the Spanish public of the reality it would face should the proposed changes to the abortion law that the Government is preparing be passed, to mobilise the general public against the proposed changes, and reach politicians through the media.

To illustrate that future reality we created a fictitious travel agency specialising in trips to have abortions outside Spain: Abortion Travel, "the agency that should never exist.” Through it, we sent our messages:

-Being obliged to travel outside Spain to have an abortion carries a high cost (both economic and emotional).

-Those who have the resources could continue having abortions despite the law.

-That this situation could be very big business.

We opened the physical agency in premises in Madrid, while we also created the online agency and sent a mail shot to the media: the suitcase that you should never have to pack.

To achieve the desired impact without a media campaign, we needed content that both stood out and was controversial but which was also attractive to the press, public opinion formers, and the general public; and which could be mobilised through public relations.

Our goal was to mobilise the general public and the media to force the reopening of the debate on the proposed changes. We wanted the largest possible media presence and to obtain signatures for the petition against the proposed changes that we had created at change.org.

• Output/Awareness:

Overall impressions: 38.5M+.

Article count: 200+ national (almost all leading media), 30+ international (UK, Canada, Japan, LATAM, Netherlands, Belgium, leading France media: LeFigaro, Liberation, MarieClaire, Glamour, L’Express, HuffingtonPost).

ROI: €1,044,103

• Knowledge/Consideration:

Type of media appearances: TV, print press, online press, blogs, radio, and social.

Favourable mentions: traditional, 94%; social, 97%.

Interviews: 10+ (TV, radio, online).

Press conference coverage by leading media.

Agency was visited by national cultural and political figures.

• Action/Business Impact:

40K+ petition signatures.

3M+ Twitter impressions.

The campaign reached the Spanish Chamber of Deputies where parliamentarians and the VicePresident of Congress were obliged to address it in statements. A spokesperson for the ruling party was forced to ask for calm and left the door open by saying: "we don't have the definitive text yet which will be debated by both chambers.” We managed to reopen the debate and made them rethink the law.

The agency was the campaign’s headquarters: a press conference was held there, women were informed about the consequences of the proposed changes to the law, and signatures were directly collected to prevent it being passed.

In the online version of the agency, users could take part in a simulation where they made full travel bookings for two people, which included the flight, the intervention, and accommodation near the clinic.

The user could choose between pre-set packages or make a manual selection based on either the destination or the clinic. Services prices, although approximate, were obtained using an API to ensure they were the most realistic possible (emotional cost not included).

In addition, the number of weeks and the possibility of foetal malformation were taken into account. At the end of the search process, we invited users to sign a petition against the proposed changes and prevent anyone else from ever having to take that trip.

On 20 December, the Spanish Government announced that it would be making changes to the current law on abortion. Measures making it one of the most restrictive in the world.

Worldwide media are debating the measures the Spanish Government wishes to take and denouncing them as an abuse of power. Women in Spain took to the streets on a massive scale, but the Government paid them no heed.

We delivered graphic teaser material (promotional videos for travel packages including an abortion) to the media, whilst keeping it unclear whether Abortion Travel was or not a real agency with a business model.

Once the media had shown an interest and contacted our PR team, we launched the call for the opening of the physical agency, where we carried out a press conference at which we revealed the true nature of the campaign: Abortion Travel was the agency that should never exist, a travel agency that would become a reality should the law be passed.