El Corte Inglés has continued to stock three books despite more than a year of protests by LGBT groups in Spain

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Spain's largest department store chain is facing calls for a boycott over the stocking of several books that promote the idea of "curing" homosexuality.

Despite more than year of protests by LGBT groups in Spain, El Corte Inglés has continued to carry the titles I Want to Stop Being Gay, How to Prevent Homosexuality and Gender Confusion in Childhood.

After several failed attempts to talk to the retailer, the political party Izquierda Unida (United Left) is calling on Spaniards to boycott the chain's stores, said Mariano Vilar, who coordinates LGBT issues for the party in Parla, a town in Madrid's metropolitan area.

"I wouldn't even call it a book. I would call it libel. It's something dirty and denigrating," he said. "This type of publication does a lot of harm, more than you can imagine."

He brushed aside any arguments over the right of expression, saying firmly: "They're speaking about homosexuality as if it were a disease." He likened the books to web pages that applaud and encourage terrorism or anorexia. "They shut down web pages like those. Freedom of expression has its limits."

All three books are written by Joseph Nicolosi, an American psychologist and co-founder of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality.

On his website, Nicolosi describes his specialty as the "treatment of men who wish to diminish their same-sex attractions and develop their heterosexual potential".

On Tuesday many Spaniards took to Twitter to express their indignation over the sale of the books. "We don't have to prevent homosexuality, but rather the stupidity of homophobes," wrote one user. "My plan this afternoon is to go to El Corte Inglés and move all the books on preventing homosexuality to the science fiction section," wrote another.

Others pointed out that the book was also available at other booksellers across the country, including the Casa del Libro and Amazon in Spain.

When contacted by the Guardian, El Corte Inglés said nobody was available to comment.