Mission Statement: to assist the integration of foreign residents living in Spain
By Chris King • Updated: 29 Oct 2023 • 1:02 • 5 minutes read
Image of a stag party celebrating in Spain. Credit: Evgeny Gubenko/Shutterstock.com
UPDATE: Sunday, October 29 at 0:49 am
AS announced in a statement on Friday, October 27, Sevilla City Council is joining other authorities across Spain in outlawing the behaviour of stag and hen parties in public.
Fines of up to €750 will be imposed on anybody caught wearing just their underwear on the street or exhibiting accessories of a ‘sexual nature’.
José Luis Sanz, the city’s mayor had previously promised residents that he would put a stop to these ‘festivals that disrupt neighborhood coexistence’.
The modification of Article 12 of the Ordinance of Measures for the Promotion and Guarantee of Citizen Coexistence in Public Spaces of Seville was initially approved this Friday by the Seville Local Government Board.
It’s objective is that of: ‘preserving public spaces from conduct that could alter the natural coexistence in our streets and preserve the image of the city of Sevilla’, reported okdiario.com this Saturday, October 28.
Specifically, this applies to anybody caught: “traveling or remaining on public roads or public spaces without clothing or only in underwear, with clothing or accessories that represent the genitals of the human being or with dolls or elements of a sexual nature’.
After the initial approval by the Government Board, the modification project will be submitted to public information and hearing of interested parties for a period of 30 days. It will then be submitted for final approval by the Municipal Council.
Minerva Salas, a Government spokesperson, declared that this approval: ‘represents compliance with the commitment made by the mayor, José Luis Sanz, to put a stop to bachelor parties’.
‘Sevilla is a city open to tourism, but we cannot allow its image to be questioned by these celebrations that disturb the normal coexistence between neighbors and visitors in our city’, Salas stressed.
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UPDATE: Friday, September 22 at 1:50 am
VALENCIA City Council is considering a similar action to the one approved in Malaga yesterday with regard to the behaviour of stag and hen parties in public.
Juan Carlos Caballero, the Councillor for the Environment, announced this Friday 22 that they were going to analyse a modification of Malaga City Council’s ordinance.
Residents of the city’s districts, in particular Ruzafa, have been demanding for years that measures be taken to stop the excesses of bachelor party celebrations in their streets.
When asked whether these measures will be included in the Valencia ordinance, Caballero replied that he was aware of: ‘the ordinance approved in Malaga, and Valencia City Council is already working on updating our ordinance to improve coexistence with residents’.
‘We think it’s a good ordinance and Valencia City Council will study the measures that we see as positive’, the politician added, as reported by lasprovincias.es.
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Thursday, September 21 at 6:37 pm
THE sight of stag and hen parties walking the streets of Malaga dressed in costumes displaying the shape of phallic objects is at an end.
This Thursday, September 21, the Social Rights Commission of Malaga City Council finally approved new regulations designed to outlaw such behaviour. Walking naked on public streets is also prohibited.
Of course, groups wishing to visit the capital of the Costa del Sol will be more than welcome as long as they do not indulge in any form of vulgar or offensive conduct in public.
New regulations were presented last February that would outlaw the carrying of inflatable blow-up dolls or other elements of a sexual nature in public. This ordnance was eventually given the green light today.
As a result, anybody caught on the streets of Malaga without clothing or simply in their underwear can face fines. These actions will join the consumption of alcohol in public, which was already banned in the city, as is the use of megaphones or any other form of sound-amplifying equipment by stag and hen parties.
All of the city’s political parties voted in favour of passing the new regulations, with the exception of Unidas Podemos, which abstained, as reported today by malagahoy.es.
Residents of the city had been invited to post their thoughts on these issues on a section of the Council’s website in advance of today’s vote.
According to the new rule: ‘Except with municipal authorisation for specific places, it is prohibited to travel or remain on the road or public spaces without clothing or only in underwear, with clothing or accessories that represent the genitals of the human being, or with dolls/as or elements of a sexual nature’.
A seventh section will be duly included in Article 36 and a third section in Article 38 of Chapter VI – inappropriate uses of public space – of the Ordinance for the Guarantee of Citizen Coexistence.
Article 38.3 states: ‘In the cases contemplated in section 7 of Article 36, officers of the law will inform, first of all, the people involved, regarding the existence of the prohibition contemplated in this present ordinance, and only if the unacceptable attitude persists, will the pertinent complaint be formulated’.
It continues: ‘Once the aforementioned conduct has been noticed and regardless of the sanctions that may be imposed, the law enforcement officers may require the cessation of the conduct that violates the prohibition contained in article 36’.
This is based on the principle of guaranteeing individual rights and freedoms, and punitive measures are adjusted to the principle of minimum intervention.
It means that individual conduct will only typified as an infraction to the extent that it affects or impedes the freedom of other persons.
Specifically, citizens will be prohibited from walking around without clothes, carrying naked inflatable dolls or wearing penis-shaped accessories on their heads, all of which are very common behaviours at stag and hen parties. Fines for this type of behaviour could go up to €750.
Police officers will give the individuals a verbal warning about the new rules first, and: ‘Only if the prohibited attitude persists will the pertinent complaint be enforced’.
In the explanatory statement published regarding today’s vote, the Malaga City Council explained that its objective was to: ‘put a stop to some uncivil behaviours that may disrupt coexistence between residents of the city’.
‘The proliferation in recent years of certain behaviours associated with nudism, and the exclusive use of underwear or erotic content in public spaces makes it advisable to provide the municipality with new regulations’, the council stated.
The ultimate goal they added was: ‘To preserve public space as a place of meeting, coexistence and civility, in which all people can freely develop their free movement, leisure and recreation activities, with full respect for others and the community with the plurality of expressions and ways of life’.
Further up the Spanish coastline, on the Costa Blanca, the resort of Benidorm is one of the most famous destinations in Europe for stag and hen parties every weekend. The revenue generated by these groups is enormous for the local hotels and establishments.
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Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com
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