Barcelona
Bans
Public
Nudity
Europeans
are
generally
known
for
their
liberal
views on
nudity
and sex
in
public
places.
Unlike
in North
America
and
Latin
America,
going
nude or
semi-nude
in the
streets
is
nothing
scandalous.
I mean,
in
France
and
other
European
countries,
there
are "pissoirs"
or
public
urinals
in the
street.
However,
one
European
city,
the city
of
Barcelona,
Spain,
in a
special
council
session
on
Friday,
a ban on
naked or
nearly
naked in
public
spaces
was
passed.
The ban
includes
going
shirtless,
in
bikini
or
swimsuit
- for
both
sexes -
in
public
spaces,
"unless
specific
authorization"
is
obtained.
"There
is the
beach,
and if
you want
there
are
nudist
areas
close to
Barcelona,
the city
centre
requires
a
different
dress
code",
say city
officials.
Barcelona's
objective
is to
get rid
of
semi-naked
tourists
walking
its
streets.
The
Barcelona
Tourism
Board
will
start an
awareness
campaign
asking
tourists
not to
stroll
in
bathing
suits
and
shorts-and-slippers-only
through
all
parts of
the
city.
Image
issues
and
common
courtesy
towards
Barcelona's
locals
and its
institutions
require
to
remind
tourists
they are
not in
Lloret
de Mar,
but in a
historic
city
where
some
measure
of
dressing
etiquette
is not
misplaced,
says a
Tourism
Board
spokesperson.
Barcelona
has a
beach.
On the
beach
you wear
shorts,
a
bathing
suit, or
next to
nothing.
That's
no
problem.
Barcelona
also has
a
Picasso
museum,
an
ancient
cathedral,
a
historic
city
centre
and many
places
where
locals
go in
´normal
dress
mode´.
There,
wearing
swimming
trunks
and
slippers
while
showing
off
tattoos
left,
right
and
bottom
should
not be
okay,
says the
tourism
authority.
For the
moment
no
sanctions
or
policing
are
planned
to force
(some)
visitors
to dress
slightly
more
elegantly
in the
Parc
Güell,
Plaza
Cataluña
or the
major
shopping
malls,
but
there
will be
a
publicity
campaign
and
brochures
to ask
tourists
to dress
,,appropriately
for the
occasion".
Also,
museums,
art
galleries,
business
owners
themselves
and
government
institutions
should
kindly,
and as
of yet
discretely,
ask
their
clients
and
visitors
to not
barge
through
the city
and its
attractions
in
semi-naked
state,
says the
Tourism
Board.
The
foreign
visitors
board is
not only
concerned
with
image
problems
Barcelona
might
develop
over the
long
haul and
a
reputation
for
cheap
tourism
that
might
ensue,
but also
with
estranging
the
local
populace
from the
couple
of
million
visitors
that
come to
the city
on a
yearly
basis.
Many
Barcelona
locals,
especially
during
summer,
already
avoid
local
tourisms
hot-spots
like the
Ramblas
and the
Barrio
Gotico.
The
please-dress-up-debate
is being
pushed
by the
Catalan
newspaper
El
Periodico,
that has
been
writing
about
the
issue
for over
a year
and has
now
pulled
in
support
of the
biggest
Catalan
political
party,
CiU. The
Barcelona
front
man of
the
party,
Xavier
Trias,
says
that
bathing
suits
and
similar
wear
should
only be
allowed
at the
beach
and
closely
neighbouring
areas.
It is
common
sense.
It is
time
people
are told
it not
okay to
walk our
city
streets
virtually
naked.
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