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Spanish naturist paradise bans nudity by mistake

Authorities in a southern Spanish town famed for being an international naturist hotspot have inadvertently banned the practice.

Spanish naturist paradise bans nudity by mistake
Vera made headlines across the world in 2013 when it broke the Guinness World Record for 'skinny dipping'. Photo: Jorge Guerrero/AFP

Vera, near the Andalusian city of Almería, made headlines across the world in 2013 when it broke the Guinness World Record for ‘skinny dipping’, with 729 naked volunteers taking the plunge in the Mediterranean.

The town is also the only place in Spain to have a naturist hotel and town authorities advertise their main beach as “the best naturist beach resort in the world”.

So why start slapping fines of €100 to €300 ($409) on tourists whose main reason for being in Vera is the freedom of stripping off or going topless?

The ban, according to Vera authorities, is all down to a “transcription mistake” which came after conservative Popular Party (PP) politicians in the town backed a local bylaw which prohibits the practice with one exception, “item 6 in article 58”, a clause which doesn’t even exist.

“If we’ve made a mistake we’ll rectify, that’s that,” Popular Party spokesperson Antonio Fernández told Spanish daily El Mundo in the face of all the criticism his party has received from the opposition PSOE socialists and other groups.

“It’s obvious we’re not going to shoot ourselves in the foot.”

Therefore, “promoting or circulating topless or without clothes in public areas” is unlikely to apply to the nudist beach or to the naturist residential areas (some of the biggest in Europe) for much longer.

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