It is a subject that would make most governments blush, but officials in the Spanish region of Extremadura have launched a major programme to encourage what could be described as a more hands-on approach to sexuality.

The region’s socialist government has launched a €14,000 (£12,600) campaign aimed at teaching young people how best to set about “sexual self-exploration and the discovery of self-pleasure” – or to put it less delicately: masturbation.

“Pleasure is in your own hands” is the slogan of a campaign that has sparked political controversy and challenges traditional Roman Catholic views on people having sex, even on their own, for non-reproductive reasons.

“This is an intimate subject that should be dealt with at home,” complained local opposition leader Hernández Carrón of the rightwing People’s party. “We have become the laughing stock of Spain.”

…The campaign includes leaflets, flyers, a “fanzine” and workshops for the young in which they receive instruction on self-pleasuring techniques along with advice on contraception and self-respect.

Workshops? Why that’s just plain Xtremadura.