"Nudism is in a very delicate state of health, with many complications. The percentage of nudists has not increased in recent years, and many have stopped going to traditional nudists sites, as they are full of bathers. It's our challenge as a movement. Moreover, it seems that, instead of opening up, society is closing and regressing, that it is more conservative in terms of bodies, that it is turning to the right and that nudity is not accepted". These are the reflections of Segimon Rovira, president of the Naturismo Club of Catalunya (CCN). This not-for-profit association, with over 500 partners, has been fighting for the rights of those who practice Nudism in Catalonia since 1977.

They're not the best times for nudism. In cities such as Tarragona, Barcelona or Castell Platja d'Aro, the absence of clear and homogeneous signaling adds to the sexual persecution against women who practice nudism. The main challenges of this practice, which has as its axis common freedom, harmony with nature and the recognition of the different bodies.

That is why this partnership is developing a nudist action plan aimed at partners, users, followers, administration and society in general. It will propose actions and strategic lines to reverse the dynamic, which from different fronts is considered worrying.

Set of proposals

"The ideal would be to be able to bathe as everyone wants and sunbathe anywhere: naked, with topless or full bathing. But that, to date, would not be accepted by a part of society (…). In recent years, in some beaches of Nudist tradition, there are whole families or groups of young people, all of them in swimsuits. This makes the nudist feel very uncomfortable. To think that nudism is legal in all public spaces and that the nudist beaches should not be signposted is a utopia that today is not viable”. This is what they say in the Nudist Action Plan of 2021. One of the proposals is the creation of a generic signaling poster of the beaches of the Catalan Nudist tradition, with pictograms or logos and explanations in different languages. "Signage is important to convey security to the nudists and to inform other users of the nudist tradition of the beaches. Posters do not guarantee the maintenance of Nudism, they should be complemented by information actions," says the CCN.

Another proposal is to create a network of volunteers to coordinate in the Nudist beaches of Catalonia. Its mission will be to invigorate the beach, organize the annual cleaning day or naturism, as well as to monitor the conservation and signaling of the beach, collect data and report any incidence. Finally, and as a challenge for the future, in this 2021 they want to hold the Congress on Nudism and create a nudist social network that allows sharing information and being a forum for debate among nudists.

Proposals for the institutions

In addition, the CCN has also proposed measures aimed at the administration, deputies and municipalities to make gestures and policies that recognize the right to nudism. Contacts are being prepared with those responsible for Tourism of the Generalitat and the Deputies of Tarragona, Barcelona and Girona to create an official nudist guide and the promotion of the Nudist beaches.

According to the plan, "the ordinances that prohibit nudism, contact city councils with progressive governments and try to appropriate the error of prohibition - in reference to the resolution of the Catalan Trustee of 2018-, defend and promote nudism of naturism in Catalonia".

This resolution was the response to the complaints of the Naturismo Club of Catalonia, in which the Trustee made six recommendations for the municipalities, with the objective that in all municipalities the right to nudism could be exercised and that women could do it calmly, without the presence of the curious ones. One of the most difficult issues to deal with is how to deal with sexual harassment of women. Rovira believes that there is no clear solution. "We propose that it be the usual users of the beaches who invite them to come and dialogue with the accuser, and if they refuse, to call the police."

Nudist empowerment

Much of the CCNreno plan focuses on actions to disseminate Nudism to society. "Campaigns must be carried out to normalize Nudism, to make known what Nudism is and to refute the topics. We need to get to a larger part of society that doesn't really know Nudism." However, we must not forget the empowerment of current users. "Nudists must be better informed of their rights. We have the right to make a Nudism in all public spaces, even if it is not marked (except in those places where there are ordinances that prohibit it)," the plan states. It is also committed to the promotion of Nudism Interior, to practice it in mountains and rivers, both in bathing areas and in excursions and hiking.

This plan, in short, is an appeal to resistance for those who still want to bring their body without clothes and accessories, defend the beaches of Nudist tradition, full of people who today wear a swimsuit, or release new places. A simple gesture is enough, but today it is very complex: taking off your clothes.

Naturist Juan de Lomas said last summer: "I would say to those who complain that they occupy their beaches with a hundred, that they do not leave them, that they do not let them go, that they are the sign that there is nudity and, at the same time, an invitation without words, to accept it, to test it, to normalize it."