Simon Spies was a Danish businessman during the 60's and 70's in Denmark, known for his popular travel agency, his debauched life and for surrounding himself with young women.  

In 1956, he founded the travel company Spies Rejser, which offered charter trips to Mallorca, among other places.

The company eventually became a successful travel empire that made many Danes go out and travel.

Despite the fact that Simon Spie's life was marked by several scandals, he was a popular and valued person in Denmark.

He became Denmark's richest man during his lifetime, and died in 1984.

Abuse and ill-treatment

In the documentary "Spies og morgenbolledamerne" DR gives a new picture of the popular travel king.

In the documentary, several of his former employees accuse Simon Spies of sexually exploiting and abusing young employees.

Spies is said to have hired young women who were minors and from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, and then subjected several of them to sexual abuse and violence.

In the documentary, Anika Barkan, the sister of one of Spies' young women, tells about how the sister was hired by Spies when she was 15 years old and worked for him for three years.

In the documentary, Annika Barkan tries to find out what happened to her sister, who later in life got stuck in addiction and died at the age of 25, during the years with Spies. 

Sparks debate

The documentary arouses great debate in Denmark and now the position of the travel king is being questioned.

Erland Groth, who is the editor of "Spies og morgenbolledamerne" on DR, has worked for several years with the documentary.

- The fact that he surrounded himself with young women was part of his marketing.

The new thing is to tell the story from the women's perspective.

The documentary series has had a great impact and the discussion about Spies is currently filling leaflets, editorial pages and social media in the country.

Several perspectives are brought forward, according to Erland Groth.

- Some ask if you can discuss the past with today's glasses.

They think that you should leave it alone and that all this metoo thing is a terrible way.

- Another conversation is about how could it happen, how could the Danish press not be critical, so a kind of self-examination among journalists, also within DR. 

The travel company Spies resor has declined to participate in the documentary, but responds to the criticism in a comment to Kulturnyheterna:

"We strongly distance ourselves from the association with young girls described in the documentary series.

It has nothing in common with Spie's travel values.”