The depressing reason women in Europe are ditching this age-old beach tradition

Fears of hidden cameras and unachievable beauty standards may be killing a custom long associated with freedom and progressive thinking (Picture: Getty Images) As a kid, it was always easy to spot fellow British tourists on the beach in Spain. They were the only ones who weren’t half-naked. Seeing European women sunbathing topless was the norm, a regular reminder that, as Brits, our stiff upper lip cursed us with bad tan lines. But while few countries see women going topless as taboo – a 2025 YouGov survey found that most Western European countries are overwhelmingly on board with it – there’s some evidence to suggest its becoming less common. In the same survey, 37% of Spanish women stated that they often sunbathe topless. However, a recent opinion piece in The Times pointed out that a similar survey in 2017 put that figure at 49%. That’s a 12% drop. This alone might look like a coincidence. But several Spanish news outlets have clocked on to the fact that some women may no longer feel comfortable to bare all at the beach — and there’s one possible reason why. Is nobody up for going topless these days? (Picture: Getty Images) Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. Last summer, Canarian Weekly published an article titled ‘Why is topless sunbathing disappearing from Canary Islands beaches?’ And just a few days ago, on August 2, El País published a piece addressing the same conversation: ‘The summer when topless people were once again the talk of the town’. Both of these features speak to a growing sentiment: sunbathing topless no longer feels safe. Women interviewed by Canarian Weekly said they feel they’re constantly ‘being watched’ and expressed concern that going topless means they might end up being victim to sexual harassment or being filmed without their consent. Several women have shared experiences of being harassed while on the beach (Picture: Getty Images) Professor Clare McGlynn, Professor of Law and leading expert on violence against women and girls, tell Metro it doesn’t surprise her that fewer women are willing to go topless ‘in the age of smart glasses and the epidemic of non-consensual filming and sharing of intimate images’. She explains: ‘Every day, women are now having to be wary of strangers, mostly men, filming them in public and uploading imagery to websites. ‘This almost certainly would include them being on the beach, especially if topless. ‘This is the reality of technological developments for women. It’s not some exciting New World of possibilities, but yet more ways in which we can be harassed and abused.’ Currently, in the UK, it is not illegal to film someone in a public space without their consent. While campaigners such as Gina Martin have successfully pushed for legal reforms, making offences such as upskirting illegal, there are still significant gray areas when it comes to recording people in public. And it’s not just the beach where women feel threatened for their privacy. A BBC investigation published in February discovered that there were more 65 online channels dedicated to ‘nightlife content’ that focused almost entirely on filming women in dresses or skirts. Often without their knowledge, women in cities around the world have been filmed from behind or from low angles, sometimes exposing intimate parts of their bodies. Similarly to Clare, Amy Watson, founder of HASSL (an organisation dedicated to tackling the root causes of harassment and violence against women), is unsurprised that some women may no longer feel safe going topless at the beach. She tells Metro: ‘Women now have to exist in public with the knowledge that someone can take out a phone, photograph or film them without their consent, and potentially put that content in front of millions of strangers before they even know it exists.’ Men filming women without consent has become common (Picture: Getty Images) The activist continues: ‘Going topless should be a completely ordinary choice about your own body, but the possibility of being secretly filmed, sexualised or turned into someone else’s online ‘content’ takes away some of that freedom. ‘And once an image exists, women have very little control over where it ends up, who sees it or what is done with it.’ This isn’t just about bad tan lines, this is about women being disproportionately forced to think about risks and safety in public spaces in a way men generally are not. ‘The answer can’t be another warning for women to cover up or change their behaviour,’ Amy adds. ‘We need to be asking why women are having to give up freedoms because other people cannot be trusted to respect their boundaries. 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