Spanish court decides that man has the right to walk naked in the street

A Spanish court ruled this week that Alejandro Colomar, a 29-year-old computer scientist, has the right to walk naked in the streets of Aldaia, a small town with just over 30,000 inhabitants in the Valencia region.

Colomar had already received several fines for the practice —some reaching €800 euros (R$4,400)—, based on the Citizen Security Law, and he appealed against all of them. Throughout his legal battle, he even appeared in court without clothes in September, but had to get dressed to enter the building.

The Superior Court of Justice in Valencia disagreed with Colomar’s arguments that the fines he received were violations of his right to freedom of ideology. The court acknowledged, however, that there is a “legal vacuum” in local legislation regarding nudity in public places.

Colomar told the Reuters news agency that he started going out on the streets naked in 2020. The practice, according to him, yielded more words of support than insults, but there was an episode in which he was threatened with a knife.

“The fines don’t make any sense,” he said. “They accuse me of obscene exhibitionism. According to the dictionary, that implies sexual intent, which has nothing to do with what I was doing. They accused me because there were minors in front of me. it wouldn’t even make sense. If there was sexual intent, I was supposed to be arrested, not pay a fine.”

He claims he started practicing nudism after a woman called him out for being shirtless in a park at night, as she couldn’t do the same.

“I told her that her complaint was justified, but it didn’t make sense that I had to cover myself up because of it. The problem was with society, not my nakedness or my semi-nudity.”

Public nudity has been legal in Spain since 1988. Anyone can walk around naked without being arrested, but some regions have introduced their own rules for nudism.

In Barcelona, ​​for example, it is forbidden to go shirtless or in a bathing suit on public roads, except on beaches, swimming pools or other authorized spaces. The fine for those who break the rule is from €120 (R$669.5).

The municipality of Salou, also in Catalonia, prohibits going shirtless in the historic and urban centers and in the municipal market. The agents are instructed, first, to warn those who break the law. In case of a fine, the citizen can be penalized with an amount from € 100 (R$ 554).

The court concluded that the circulation of Colomar, without clothes, on the streets of Aldaia does not affect the safety of citizens or public order.