YNOT EUROPE – Salou, a resort south of Barcelona on Spain’s Costa Daurada, has banned shirtless men and bikini-clad women in most public places. In addition, drinking on the streets, sex on the beach and wearing beachwear anywhere but beachfront bars and restaurants is prohibited.

Officials said the set of ordinances — the first of its kind in Spain — is designed to keep drunken British tourists from continuing to besmirch the town’s reputation. Infractions are punishable by fines from 100-300 euros.

“It is not normal to go the market with your packet on show or round the tourist sites in a thong,” Alberto del Hierro, councillor for Tourism in Salou, told the UK’s Telegraph newspaper. “One shouldn’t be allowed to walk the streets or enter public buildings in unseemly apparel. It gives the city a low-class look.”

Image is important to a resort that relies not only on international tourism, but on the more conservative Spanish family trade, as well.

“We want to ensure that Salou has a good image,” Mayor Pere Granados told the Telegraph.

Officials passed the new laws after British students, aged 18-23, crowded the town during Easter holiday this year. Residents complained about the students’ public drunkenness and disorderly behavior, including skimpy attire and inappropriate sexual activity.

Several students were arrested — one for alleged rape — and emergency workers were overtaxed caring for alcohol-related injuries and illnesses, officials said. Of more concern, friction erupted between the students and Spanish families vacationing at the beach, causing what officials described as “anti-British backlash” directed at local businesses that depend upon tourism.

Barcelona, about 70 km away, considered passing a similar set of ordinances, but settled for a public-awareness campaign instead. Signs bearing stick figures in swimsuits behind the international red circle-and-slash symbol indicating “no” are popping up around the city ahead of the summer tourist season.

“We want to make people understand that it’s an attitude that we don’t like,” a spokesman for Barcelona City Hall told the Telegraph. “It’s not banned or punishable, but it’s something we don’t think is polite.”