Barcelona to ban bikinis from streets

Barcelona looks to ban bikinis from streets... with threat of £265 fine

Barcelona is famous around the world for its louche, anything goes atmosphere.

But it seems Catalans have had enough of cleavage, and now the Mediterranean resort city is getting tough on those who dare to bare.

Tourists who wander the streets of Barcelona in just their swimming costumes - or less - will now face stiff fines.

City officials have voted to ban 'nudity or virtual nudity in public places' and limit swimming costumes to swimming pools, beaches, adjacent roads and beach walks.

And the ban is set to come into force later this month, just as the influx of British tourists starts to peak.

Anyone who walks the streets away from the beaches clad in just a bikini, trunks or a swimsuit will be liable for fines of up to €300 (£262).

And in this previously permissive city, the penalties are even more severe for naturists: those who stray naked from designated nudist beaches could face fines of up to €500 (£435).

Nudism campaigners are outraged by the move. Like many other parts of Spain, Barcelona has a number of nudist beaches and the city has, in the past, championed the naturist cause.

Jacit Ribas i Deix, the head of an association for the defence of nudity, told AFP: 'It's a ban that goes beyond laws that decriminalised nudity 22 years ago.' Mr Ribas i Deix is well known in Barcelona for walking and cycling naked through the city.

But the Barcelona city councillor in charge of security, Assumpta Escarp, told the agency she hoped the ban would 'ensure coexistence between citizens in public areas,' and denied the new rules were 'telling people how they should dress'.

Barcelona has been trying to shake off a reputation as a city where anything goes.

Ms Escarp told The Times: 'Some people who live here are bothered by tourists who go dressed in a bikini in the street, or in swimming trunks. We have to maintain standards.'

Authorities in the city, where the port and the beach areas sit by the historic old town, earlier this year put up posters discouraging scantily clad tourists from walking the streets.

The posters showed a couple in swimming costumes with a red line across it next to another couple dressed normally, but with no red line.

To stop lager louts and binge drinkers, the city has also introduced fines for drinking from cans and bottles in the streets.

Source: Daily Mail

Vocabulary:

to look to do sth -

a threat -

louche -

anything goes -

to have had enough of sth -

cleavage -

to get tough on stg -

to dare to do stg -

to bare -

to wander -

to face (a fine) -

a fine -

stiff (punishment) -

to set to -

to come into force -

an influx -

to peak -

trunks -

liable -

up to (€300) -

outraged (adj) -

to shake off (a problem) -

to bother -

scantily clad -

a lager lout -

a binge drinker -

a can (of beer) -

What do you think of this new rule?