It started harmlessly with an English test.

The young women in Madrid had applied for a job as a flight attendant with Kuwait Airways.

Humiliated and horrified, they remember how the selection process continued in November in an airport hotel on the outskirts of the Spanish capital.

They felt like "horses and animals in a zoo," they said of the recruitment agency that recruits cabin crew for the Arab airline.

Hans Christian Roessler

Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb based in Madrid.

  • Follow I follow

Since the beginning of the year, the Spanish online newspaper Eldiario has reported in several articles on the experiences of half a dozen applicants, most of whom had to strip down to their underwear.

The outrage in Spain is growing.

According to press reports, the Labor Inspectorate began investigations.

A new selection process announced on social media for January has reportedly been cancelled.

A woman, who gave only her first name, Bianca, told TV channel La Sexta how she went into "shock" when one of the recruiters suddenly pulled her dress "up to her knickers" - allegedly to check whether the Applicants are tattooed, have scars or birthmarks.

Then she asked her to open her mouth to inspect her teeth.

"They're straight, they're enough," she stated.

"You have a roller coaster body"

Other women report worse comments, like "we don't like your smile" or "you have a roller coaster body".

A woman was asked to lose six kilograms by January to get the job.

Others were asked if they would be willing to "eat more."

A candidate that Eldiario calls María should actually only submit the last documents and a few photos.

But then came a Whatsapp message, which the online newspaper also has: "I'm sorry to inform you that Kuwait Airways will not be hiring black cabin crew," wrote an employee at recruitment agency Meccti.

The applicants came across the job offer on an Instagram account.

As "Kuwait Airways" announced on Twitter, they have been working with this agency since 2017, which "90 percent" of the airlines in the region have already used.

For 68 years, Kuwait Airways has employed people from all over the world and does not condone "humiliating and degrading" practices.

Everything will be examined in detail, because "such a serious allegation has never been made".

The recruitment agency initially questioned the statements made by the women and threatened legal action through a law firm.

After further reports, she announced an internal investigation and blamed a Morocco-based subcontractor.

However, the Spanish Ministry of Labor is not satisfied with this.

It set the Labor Inspectorate on the march.

“The selection practice that has become known is absolutely intolerable.

We will do everything to ensure that she is punished accordingly," said State Secretary Joaquín Pérez Rey on television.