Beach hut shops were full of tourists on Wednesday, but the sea was almost empty
A Spanish tourist hotspot has banned tourists from having sex in the dunes to try to improve the economy.
The Ocean Beach on the Almeria coast, where the activity is rife, was recently designated a protected area under the European Union’s Coastal Accord for environmental reasons.
The town council wants to find ways to keep tourists and UK sunseekers happy.
One solution it came up with was outlawing lovers.
Last summer, the chamber of commerce and the reserve in the bay between La Coruna and San Sebastian jointly announced the plan, along with a beefed-up police presence.
A tourism officer patrolling the beaches now says she has spotted tourists having sex in the dunes on at least five separate occasions, BBC South has learned.
She urged the media to report the problem, she said.
It is not the first time that Spain has tried to combat antisocial behaviour on beaches.
A ban on smoking during the summer has led to a drop in incidents.
More recently, four people from Germany were fined £125 for eating on a beach in Majorca.
One place to avoid is Malaga, where police took a group of 15 men into custody for having sex on top of a sand dune near the city’s Malaga airport.
The holidaymakers were arrested after they defied the ban.