Five Spanish and two French teenagers last week became the latest foreigners to be taken to court for skinny dipping in the sea at night. Young beachgoers tell Patrick Cooke what they think of the Maltese police’s zero-tolerance approach to nocturnal nakedness.


Simon Romeo, 25, Denmark

The police in Denmark would just laugh at first if they caught you skinny dipping and then give you a warning. You wouldn’t get a criminal record for it. It’s not actually illegal in Denmark as far as I know, though it’s frowned upon. The police are definitely overreacting here if they are arresting people in the middle of the night. It’s a tourist place and lots of tourists go skinny dipping – it gives you another sense of freedom. I was a bit surprised when I learned topless bathing was also illegal. It’s overreacting in my opinion.


Tatiana Zueva, 24, Russia

If people in Russia went swimming naked at night-time it wouldn’t be so bad and they certainly wouldn’t be arrested. But in the day it is prohibited except in special places. The Russian attitude means we wouldn’t say anything if we saw someone doing it. Maybe I agree with the police arresting people for this because right now there are so many people here. I knew you couldn’t go topless here. Of course, it is illegal to be topless in other places as well as Malta.


Gianmarco Campari, 19, Italy

In Italy, we don’t have a lot of people who swim naked because we don’t like that kind of thing. At home, if you swim naked you go to jail. But I love the people who get naked (laughs).


Tamara Yelisieieva, 18, Russia

In Russia, you would get arrested for swimming naked. If there are lots of people around and children, it’s not normal. If you are alone, it’s OK to go topless, but if there are lots of people it’s not healthy.


Camilla Humphries, 21, Denmark

I don’t think anything would happen in Denmark beyond a warning from the police if they caught someone swimming naked. Maybe arresting people and taking them to court is a bit of an overreaction but I do think it’s dangerous because if people are drunk they could drown. I think a ban on topless bathing is an overreaction.


Dmitry Zaritsky, 24, Russia

In Russia, the police would probably punch me and ask me what I’m doing if they caught me swimming naked! If people want to be naked they should do it far away from other people. It is illegal to be on the streets naked and a beach is also a public place, so it’s better not to go there naked. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to be topless but the law is the law.


Jack Tranter, 18, Malta

The police are definitely overreacting. They (skinny dippers) are just youngsters, a bit rebellious. The police should tell them off if they catch them but they should definitely not arrest them. I like to think my students are well behaved. But they are young and they want to have fun. Some of them would be surprised if they got arrested. I find it a bit harsh.


Photos: Mark Zammit CordinaPhotos: Mark Zammit Cordina

Maria, 17, Germany

There are special beaches in Germany where you are allowed to swim naked and it’s OK but on public beaches you are not allowed. But they wouldn’t take you to court. Our teacher told us that girls from other countries can be arrested if they go topless. I knew that before.


What the Ministry thinks:

The Justice Ministry supported taking skinny dippers to court because: “Maltese law does not allow nudism in public places and beaches are considered public places.”

The arraignments of tourists in Malta were normally treated quickly. This was to ensure that they could return home on their pre-booked flights, with no extra costs incurred, a ministry spokesman said.

When asked if there are any plans to introduce spot fines to replace court cases for such incidents, the spokesman said the government was in the process of reviewing all possible offences and some might eventually be “decriminalised”.

“Once this happens, these offences will no longer be dealt with by the criminal courts but by regional tribunals, as is already the case for traffic and certain environmental offences.

“Individuals accused of such offences will also be able to settle fines electronically, by post or at one of the local councils’ offices.”

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.