Spain: Court backs man’s right to walk naked in streets of Aldaia town

A Spanish high court ruled in favour of a man who was fined for walking naked through the streets of Aldaia town in the region of Valencia, and later tried to attend a court hearing in the buff. Releasing a statement, the high court said it struck down an appeal against a lower court's decision earlier to annul fines handed out by Valencia's regional government to 29-year-old Alejandro Colomar for being naked in the streets of Aldaia, news agency Reuters reported on Friday (February 3).

The court, however, acknowledged a "legal vacuum" in Spanish law concerning public nudity.

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It pointed out that no local law in town prohibited nudism and nor could Colomar's nudity be considered to fall within a law that prohibits "acts of obscene exhibitionism". The court said in the ruling that Colomar "limited himself to remaining or circulating naked at different times in two different streets of Aldaia", adding his behaviour did not imply an "alteration of citizen security, tranquility or public order."

Speaking to the news agency Reuters on Friday (February 3), Colomar said he began stripping off in public in 2020 and has received more support than insults when walking about naked. Colomar said he started appearing naked in public after an argument with a woman when he took off his shirt while exercising. The 29-year-old added that he understood she could not do the same, but blamed society for it and started going nude.

“The fine does not make any sense, I was accused of obscene exhibitionism, which according to the dictionary has a sexual intention and has nothing to do with what I was doing. What I was accused of, having children there, in case there was a sexual intention was to go to jail, not a fine. But it had no relation to what I was doing,” he said.

On Friday, Colomar was filmed arriving at the court wearing just a pair of hiking boots before being ordered to put more clothes on to enter the building. During the hearing, he argued that the fines infringed on his right to ideological freedom.

Public nudity in Spain has been legal since 1988. The Reuters report said that anyone can walk naked down a street without being arrested.

However, some regions such as Valladolid and Barcelona have introduced their laws to regulate nudism, especially away from the beach. Last year, Cadiz city reversed a law that prohibited nudism on its urban beaches.

(With inputs from agencies)

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