Ixelles campaigns against spitting in the street

Ixelles is cracking down on spitting, with an original advertising campaign to deter people who spit in public.

The eye-catching posters show a llama, an animal known for spitting behaviour because of stress or anger, accompanied by the words: “Respect, that’s free. But spitting on the street will cost you up to €500.”

Spitting on the street is banned in the Brussels region. It is classed as “uncivil behaviour”, in the same category as illegal dumping or urinating in the street, and carries “heavy fines”, Bruzz reports.

The idea for the campaign came from a collaboration from Ixelles commune and the City of Brussels “to tackle rude behaviour in public spaces,” Geoffroy Kensier (Les Engagés), the Ixelles councillor responsible for public cleanliness, told Bruzz.

He said that spitting is not an isolated phenomenon and can contribute to a feeling of insecurity and upset among residentns, “so we regularly take action to combat this behaviour.”

Unfortunately, it is not easy to quantify the number of spitting incidents. It is also “difficult, if not impossible, to catch the spitters red-handed, because it is not really feasible to prove and quantify it”, said Anna Hovsepyan (MR), councillor for public cleanliness in another Brussels municipality, Jette.

In 2021, Jette carried out a similar llama campaign, with signs saying: “You’re not a llama, don’t spit on the street,” in French and Dutch.

The Brussels Institute for Statistics and Analysis (BISA) also indicates that there are no exact figures on fines or reports of public spitting behaviour.

University of Antwerp sociologist Walter Weyns told Bruzz it is young men who spit more often in public. “In recent years, spitting has been shown more often on television screens. For example, you see football players throwing phlegm on to the ground before or after the match. That is easy to imitate.”

He added that spitting was also “a bit tough - it expresses a kind of impertinence, a territorial appropriation, an ‘I can do whatever I want here’ feeling.”

The unpopular practice can also show contempt, he said, and this type of spitting incident is happening increasingly often. Bruzz reports this was the case for non-binary Jamal, recently beaten up in Beekant metro station.

“Spitting becomes a form of antisocial behaviour, in which people deliberately want to scare or scare others,” Weyns added.

This latest llama campaign is part of a broader push to reduce litter and to clean up the capital’s streets. The ‘We See You’ campaign launched by Ixelles, Saint-Gilles and Forest, for example, aims to highlight the spitting problem and also fly-tipping, littering and dog fouling.

However, Weyns is unconvinced if the llama posters will really help. “The posters are a kind of communication that says to residents: ‘We have heard your complaints.’ But the people targeted by this communication may not feel the need to adjust their behaviour. They will probably laugh about it.”