Nudity and the Law in Spain

Nudity and the Law in Spain

In a similar way to UK Law, Spanish law does not prohibit simple, non-sexual nudity in public (indeed in Spain it's viewed as an expression of freedom of the individual). As the FEN (Spanish Naturist Federation) explains on its website:

'In 1989, Article 431 of the Criminal Code was abolished in order to eliminate moral considerations, which were unconstitutional. From that moment on, nudism became legal in any public space (Organic Law 5/1988).

The abolition of the offence of “public scandal” was the result of Proposal 122/000046 of 17 March 1987, which described “public scandal” as being radically incompatible with a democratic and pluralist order such as the one that the Constitution establishes as a mandate for the legislature.

In 1995, with the approval of the new Criminal Code (the democratic one), the removal of provisions contrary to the Constitution was reaffirmed, thereby definitively confirming that “public scandal” no longer exists as a criminal offence. NUDISM IS FULLY LEGAL in any BEACH, river, park, etc., and in any situation.

Some people attempt to continue discriminating against nudity by invoking the alleged validity of the offence of exhibitionism. The law is very clear on this point and includes a definition of what may be considered exhibitionism: “lewd acts or obscene exhibition in the presence of minors or persons with mental discapacity.”'

Despite this, some local town halls and municipalities have attempted to introduce local laws prohibiting public nudity (especially on their beaches), but, as the FEN goes on to explain, this is a contentious point, as the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that freedom of expression includes with the human body, and that nudity therefore cannot be suppressed by local authority ordinances:

'In practice, some (very few) local councils have issued illegal ordinances prohibiting or regulating their beaches, and the Supreme Court has ruled that local councils may include such provisions in their ordinances on the grounds that Naturism (according to the Supreme Court) would not be an ideology. The Spanish Naturist Federation argued in its lawsuit that Nudism or Naturism is an ideology and, as such, its regulation is reserved to an Organic Law under Articles 53.1 and 81.1 of the Constitution. Since it is not considered an ideology, its regulation would not be reserved to statute, and a local council could therefore intervene.

However, even if that were the case, in a subsequent lawsuit brought against the British State—this time based on freedom of expression—the European Court of Human Rights ruled that freedom of expression includes the human body and that nudity therefore cannot be suppressed by mere ordinances. This Court ranks above the Supreme Court.

The Ombudsman, Francisco Fernández Marugán, on 19/10/2017, reiterated—based on Constitutional Court case law—that Naturism or Nudism is an ideology, regardless of what the Supreme Court may say. In his submission, which is very well grounded in legal terms, he calls for the withdrawal of ordinances regulating nudity, since “the entire exercise of the fundamental right is reserved to statute, and therefore cannot be directly regulated by a municipal ordinance.”'

Quotes taken from the official FEN (Spanish Naturist Federation) website. 

As public nudity personal freedom and freedom of expression are all issues that are interpreted differently by the Spanish Constitution, European Court of Human Rights, the Spanish Supreme Court and Local Authorities, even though nudity in public in Spain is ultimately not illegal, we recommend not "pushing the limits" in situations where the authorities might look disparagingly upon it, unless you would be prepared to enter a lengthy, and costly, legal battle just to prove a point.

Having said this, in all our time of naked experiences on beaches and in the countryside, we have never had any negative experiences of any kind - touch wood!