Algarve resort popular with Irish tourists cracks down on nudity and drunken behaviour
The Algarve party resort of Albufeira has gone to war against badly-behaving foreign tourists by approving huge fines for public sex and nudity.
Penalty charges of up to €4,000 for holidaymakers who flout a strict new good behaviour code were agreed on Friday by local councillors in the Portuguese town.
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The city hall vote took place hours before it emerged on Saturday a second tourist had been found dead in the resort after going out drinking and "becoming disorientated" after becoming separated from friends.
The unnamed 21-year-old's body was found near Albufeira's Old Town the same day police discovered the decomposing corpse of missing Scottish tourist Greg Monks (37) following a week-long search.
Irish tourists were first warned about the new get-tough rules in February when Albufeira's mayor Jose Carlos Rolo announced the 'Code of Conduct' plans and put proposals out to public consultation.
The process has now taken took a giant leap forward as it emerged holidaymakers can be hit with the fines once they are published in an official state bulletin, expected to happen later this week.
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People who enter bars and other business premises with their tops off will face fines of up to €1,500 under the new rules, with the wearing of beachwear outside of allowed areas also being tackled.
Spitting or urinating in the street will be punished with fines of between €150 and €750.
And badly-behaving tourists who end up naked in public, or get caught having or simulating sex, face fines of between €2,000 and €4,000.
Bars and cafes who let customers in without the proper dress code will also be hit with financial penalties under the new rules.
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Mayor Mr Rolo last night signalled his intent to try to take Albufeira upmarket and win back some of the families said to have been scared off by the reports of loutish alcohol and drug-fuelled behaviour the resort has been marred by of late.
He told local press: 'Tourists who fall down drunk aren't needed here at all' as he said he was seeking a three-pronged approach of 'dissuasive measures', marketing and meetings with diplomats, and a call on central government to draft in more police.
The mayor said: 'We want security to be visible. Sending 10 police officers to stay at their station isn't going to solve the problem.'
Only one of the 25 Albufeira councillors who voted in the new Code of Conduct on Friday reportedly opposed it, with critic Leonardo Paco claiming everything in it was already covered by national legislation.
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Other dissenters have cast doubt on the idea police will end up going into bars and cafes to check whether tourists have their tops on.
Last summer a group of partying tourists put on a display of public nudity which led to locals questioning the type of visitor the town attracted.
Footage of their drunken antics, showing them naked on their knees in a line on top of a bar counter, went viral as Mr Rolo called the display 'deeply negative' and said he would call for police reinforcements.
Eight holidaymakers were later identified by cops. The GNR police force is understood to have discovered who they were following an investigation after failing to catch them in the act.
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It was not immediately clear on Monday what action had been taken against them following an investigation which was announced at the time.
It comes after news emerged on Saturday a second holidaymaker had been found dead in Albufeira.
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He was found early last Wednesday morning at the back of a residential block below a steep drop near the Old Town. His death is not being treated as suspicious and he is thought to have been killed after hitting his head following a fall.
Four hours later missing Glaswegian Greg Monks was discovered at the bottom of a steep embankment west of Albufeira in an area called Cerro da Aguia.
Both men had gone out drinking with friends and are thought to have become disorientated as they tried to get back to their hotel before falls.
The 21-year-old man at the centre of the latest tragic tale to emerge from the Algarve party resort has yet to be named.
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