A string of Spanish beaches have become the first in the country to ban nudism, with fines of €750 (£665) for anyone stripping off.
The new restrictions on beaches near Murcia, in the southeast of the country, also include bans on planting umbrellas in the sand to reserve a place, urinating in the water, taking pets and listening to loud music. The curbs were passed by the council of San Pedro del Pinatar, which is run by the conservative Popular Party, and were branded “the most restrictive in Spain” by opposition parties.
There is no ban on public nudity in Spain, and nudism is widely accepted on beaches around the country, with many having areas where bathers can ditch their clothes and swimming costumes.
Silvia Egea, the councillor in charge of beaches at San Pedro del Pinatar, said that the nudism ban was brought in to encourage a “family and sport-based tourism” as the beaches had become more popular. “There is a continuous flow of people and we have seen it necessary to regulate the practice of nudism,” she said.
The ban was challenged by the Spanish Naturist Federation (FEN), which said that the practice had a long history in Murcia, dating back to the dying dies of the Franco dictatorship in the mid-1970s. Ismael Rodrigo, the FEN president, said: “Spanish law allows for nudism in any public place, not just in beaches, but anywhere."
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Nudity was removed from the list of criminal offences in Spain in 1988. In Britain nudity is not an offence in itself, but becomes one if it offends public decency.
As Spain's popularity with tourists has soared in recent years, an increasing number of local authorities have sought to control public behaviour by introducing bylaws to stop “antisocial behaviour”.
In 2011 Barcelona banned people walking in the streets naked, in swimming costumes or without a shirt. Cadiz and Valladolid brought in similar restrictions on nudity.
The FEN challenged the bans in the Spanish supreme court and won partial victories, eliminating allusions to “semi-naked” and “near nudism”. The European Court of Human Rights ruled against bans, saying that nudity is part of freedom of expression.
The San Pedro del Pinatar council said, after taking advice, that it did not see a legal conflict and insists that it will apply the ban.