Ben Pawlowski
DRUNKEN stag and hen do parties carrying inflatable penises and massive sex dolls through the streets may become a thing of the past after a popular tourist hotspot on the Costa Brava in northern Spain introduced a law banning the lewd objects in public.
Punters in Platja d’Aro, a prime destination for pre-wedding shenanigans, could be handed fines of up to €1,500 if they fall foul of the new legislation which outlaws ‘clothing representing human genitals’.
The bustling seaside town can attract up to 300,000 visitors per weekend, with many heading to the former fishing village to partake in boisterous bachelor and bachelorette parties.
But future partygoers may have to diverge from the traditional stag or hen do attire as the new law explicitly bans visitors from being ‘on the public thoroughfare without clothing or only in their underwear or with clothing or accessories representing human genitals or with dolls or other accessories of a sexual nature’.
Platja d’Aro’s mayor Maurici Jimenez, who has previously stated he would ban the celebrations altogether if he had the power, said: “These attitudes have an impact on the community’s coexistence and we need to fight against them”.
One example of loutish behaviour given by David Puertas, the local police chief, was of a groom who was strapped to a lamppost with tape whilst his friends played loud music and sang into the early hours of the morning, disturbing residents and visitors alike.
Spain is host to a number of locations – including Barcelona, Malaga, Marbella, Magaluf and Benidorm – which are consistently ranked as some of the most popular destinations for British hen or stag weekends.
