If your travel plans include relaxing on European beaches this summer, be sure to pack appropriate cover-ups.
Despite the European Travel Commission‘s report of decreased travel demand to Europe this year, some local governments are implementing stricter regulations to address public indecency and drunkenness among tourists.
In 2024, a video of eight British men dancing naked in broad daylight in a bar in Albufeira, Portugal, went viral. The city’s mayor reacted with a new plan to introduce fines of up to 1,500 euros ($1,633) for going shirtless or wearing a bikini beyond the beach, according to the BBC.
Similar rules are in place in several other European beach destinations. Time Out reported that in Malaga, a city on Spain’s Costa del Sol, the local council recently updated existing rules. Visitors who go shirtless on streets and in public spaces can now be fined up to 750 euros ($816). Meanwhile, Barcelona and Mallorca can levy fines for those wearing swimsuits when not on the beach.
Sorrento, the gateway to Italy’s Amalfi Coast, made headlines in 2022 for banning swimsuits with fines of up to 500 euros ($544). According to The Local, the island of Lipari (in the Aeolian archipelago off the coast of Sicily) and Tropea (in Calabria) put similar bans on the books in 2013 and 2019, respectively.
Per Monaco Life, it’s forbidden to walk around city streets in a swimsuit in several towns on the French Riviera, including Nice, Menton, Cannes, St. Tropez and St. Raphael.
“For me, the perfect Greek summer day is lunching until the moon rises. Every lunch turns into aperitivo, which turns into dinner,” Mitsakos said. “A Greek summer day should organically flow from one moment to the next.”
Just bring a beach bag with a change of clothes to prepare for whatever the day might bring.