A popular resort town on Spain’s Costa Brava has banned the use of inflatable penis costumes and sex dolls at men’s and women’s night celebrations, with fines of up to €1,500 (£1,276).
Platja d’Aro has a population of 12,500 and welcomes up to 300,000 visitors on summer weekends, making it a favorite destination for bachelor and bachelorette nights. Many sites offer packages that include accommodation, a cruise, and male or female strippers.
The new bylaw explicitly prohibits people from being on a public thoroughfare “without clothing or wearing only underwear or clothing or accessories representing human genitalia or dolls or other accessories of a sexual nature”.
Offenders face fines ranging from €300 to €1,500 (£255 to £1,275).
“These attitudes affect the coexistence of communities and we need to fight them,” said Mayor Maurici Jiménez, adding that if he had the power to do so, he would ban the celebrations altogether.
As an example of unacceptable behavior, local police chief David Puertas cited a recent incident in which a groom was tied to a lamppost with duct tape while his companions played loud music and Singing until the wee hours of the morning to keep the neighbors awake.
The bylaw also prohibits going topless or wearing bikinis in areas away from the beach, a ban introduced in Barcelona a few years ago but with little effect as the offenders were mainly tourists who flew home without paying their fines.
Barcelona, Malaga and Marbella are the most popular destinations, hosting thousands of hen and stag parties between them, hosted by companies offering entertainment ranging from paintball to nightclubs to live sex shows Serve. One calls itself a “Barcelona brothel,” while a stag party website offers striptease shows in limousines.
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Platja d’Aro, like many towns, is struggling to curb excessive stag and hen nights. These include the Costa Brava resorts of Tossa de Mar and Lloret de Mar, as well as the cities of Seville, Malaga and Granada.
