Spanish authorities are now enforcing rules which allow women to sunbathe topless in public, including in public swimming pools, without fear of arrest or prosecution. Women have been allowed to go topless in Spain since 2020 under Catalan equality law - but some authorities have continued to take action.
The Government now says any authority stopping women from going topless could be fined up to £430,000.
Some municipal swimming pools have stopped women from going topless after receiving dozens of complaints during summer months. But a new letter to authorities says stopping the right to bare all "excludes part of the population and violated the free choice of each person with regard to their body." The letter was written by the Catalan Government's department of equality and feminism.
Officials are being told it is their responsibility to "defend against discrimination for any motive, including sex or gender, religious convictions or dress".
Public spaces must not prevent women breastfeeding in public, and women choosing to use full body bathing suits must be allowed to do so.
