Spanish Court Says Man Can Walk Naked in Street

In Spain, it's not just the climate that's favorable to nudists. The top court in the Valencia region has ruled in favor of Alejandro Colomar, a 29-year-old man who was fined for walking naked through the streets of Aldaia, a town on the outskirts of Valencia city, reports Reuters. Colomar turned up for a hearing in the case wearing nothing but hiking boots and was told to put clothes on before entering the courthouse. The court rejected an appeal of a lower court's decision to cancel the fines, noting that Aldaia doesn't have laws against nudism. Spain legalzed public nudity in 1988, but some regions, including Barcelona, have local laws restricting nudity.

The court said there was a "legal vacuum" that meant Colomar "does not deserve reproach from the point of view of administrative sanction law," El Diario reports. The court said his behavior did not affect "citizen security, tranquility, or public order." Colomar tells Reuters that he was wrongly accused of "obscene exhibitionism." He says he started going nude in public in 2020 and people have mostly been supportive, though he was once threatened with a knife. (More Spain stories.)