NO NUDE NO GOOD IN THE SPANISH CAPITAL?

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by Rose Maramba

There she goes again, creating controversies and shocking people. Madrid mayor Manuela Carmena, of the leftist (allegedly radical)  Ahora Madrid coalition, has informed district heads that,  if they think it appropriate,  public swimming pools could allow a day in which bathers who feel like it may take off their swimsuits.

Madrid mayor Manuela Carmena

The City Hall has been quick to point out that a nudist day is old hat to Madrid. It was there at one time or another during the successive administrations (1991-2003) of conservative mayor Jose Maria Alvarez de Manzano. So what’s all that fuss about?

An Ahora Madrid spokesperson said the nudist day is a response to the petition by the Association for the Development of Nudism (AND) to let the people go nude in public places. Ismael Rodrigo, AND president, asserts that “there is nothing criminal about the human body and the best way we can show that is to try not to wear clothes when not necessary, and in the pool it isn’t.”

Carmena’s political opponent Esperanza Aguirre

Outraged, Esperanza Aguirre, former president of the Autonomous Region of Madrid and mayoral candidate who lost to Carmena in the 2015 municipal election, said, “Go create a no-veil day for Muslim women too, if you dare.”

The optional bare-all day is expected to be implemented this summer. People in charge of the pools are obliged to put up signs warning it’s no-swimsuit day so that parents may not bring their children to the pools if they think exposure to nudism isn’t good for them. If, on the other hand, they see nothing wrong with it, they must still see to it that the kids are accompanied by adults in the pool area.

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Images
Featured image by Bradley West (https://www.flickr.com/photos/wyldwest/) CC BY 2.0 Generic. Cropped
Carmena by Ahora Madrid, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic. Cropped
Aguirre by PP Madrid CC BY SA 2.0 Generic. Cropped