A coastal town in southern Portugal’s Algarve region is banning people from wearing swimwear in its urban areas, the BBC reports. Under a proposed new plan, anyone in a state of partial (or complete) nudity in public places away from Albufeira’s beaches could be fined up to €1,500 (about 12,620 patacas).
The rules target tourists, whose unruly behaviour prompted “the urgent need to draft a new regulatory framework” late last year, according to the municipality’s proposal document. The aim was to “preserve Albufeira as a multicultural, family-friendly, and safe destination that values its heritage and identity,” it read.
The proposed rules, which cover terraces visible from public spaces, would also ban public sex acts, something the BBC described as “another local nuisance”. These, along with complete nudity, would be fined up to €1,800 (about 15,145 patacas).
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Other prohibited acts range from public urination and spitting to camping, cooking or consuming alcohol on “public roads, places, and transportation”. The partial nudity clause does not apply to public beaches, though the other prohibitions mentioned appear to.
The proposal is currently out for public consultation, but could be in place by the time summer’s tourist influx arrives.
Albufeira is far from the first European holiday destination to introduce laws like these. Beach towns in Spain, Croatia and France already police partial nudity off their shores, for example.
