No Swimsuit Day: Madrid allows nude bathing in public pools to 'educate & transmit Western values'

Madrid authorities have given the green light for a ‘No Swimsuit Day’ in the capital’s municipal pools, at the request of a local nudist organization which claims that going naked in public is a chance to “educate and transmit Western values.”

Permission was granted by the city’s mayor, Manuela Carmena, Spanish media reported.

Carmena emailed all 21 Madrid districts, saying that if they consider it appropriate to host such an event, then they can fix a day for it.

However, the mayor advised that there should be signs indicating that a nudist event is being held.

Children are reportedly allowed to attend the event with adults.
Madrid City Hall later clarified that it had not authorized the decision, but had advised districts to decide for themselves.

If the districts ultimately decide to host a ‘No Swimsuit Day’, the event would probably be “towards the end of August,” it was added.

The step was originally proposed by the Association for the Development of Nudism (AND), which stands for the right for people to go naked in public places.

“What we want to do with this day is to educate and transmit our values, which are Western values,” AND President Ismael Rodrigo told Spanish newspaper El País. “There is nothing criminal about the body, and the best way we can show that is to try not to wear clothes when it’s not necessary, and in the pool, it isn’t.”

Conservative Popular Party politician Esperanza Aguirre – who leaked the contents of the email to the public – criticized the move, saying the decision was another of Mayor Carmena’s “crazy ideas.”

“I don’t know if you have the courage to implement a no veil day for Muslim women as well,” she said.