We talked a little about this at the live meet today, and as this month celebrates naturist beaches I thought it would be interesting to revisit.
We mentioned that Spain and France quite often have helpful council supplied signs of road sides pointing towards beaches and this isn't just useful but also give naturism a legitimacy.
The same can be said with signs on the beach . They show the the local council or beach owners like the National Trust are OK with naturism and so they are OK-ing it to society. These signs also give naturists a reassurance that the beach is welcoming of naturism, encourages the wary or new naturist to understand it is allowed, and also stops the right of any one complaining. They cannot tell people to cover up, act shocked or surprised by the naturism and if they do not want to witness nudity they can simply choose not to go further.
Of course in some countries like the UK people are strictly allowed to be naked on any beach, so the fact that some beaches have signs can seem to suggest the ones that do not have signs do not allow naturism, which can be confusing, and off putting, we wouldn't want to be in a situation where no sign means no naturism. But when a beach does get an "official" status it odes usually mean that there are more naturists there and the naturism becomes more social because of it.
Share your thoughts on this topic.
I dislike and oppose such signage. As has been stated they are unnecessary and generally of doubtful legality as unless a beach (or any premises) is privately owned there is no provision for any authority to impose such conditions. The clear implication is that by designating a naturist beach, nudity is not permitted on any other beach, and that is what the public infer. I'm sure we've all heard a loud-mouthed 'objector' saying "There are special beaches for that". We know nudity is entirely lawful but how far beyond a notice board on the 'non-nude' side can we strip off? 10 yards? 100 yards? A mile??
Conversely we should be moving out from behind our notices onto any reasonably quiet beach and indeed there is something of a movement doing this. Also, many traditional naturist beaches have flexible or fuzzy 'boundaries' - adjustable according to how many naturists or 'textiles' there are.
That's what I like so much about Fuerteventura and to almost the same extent Menorca - the happy co-existence between nude and costumed people on beaches.
