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WHAT A S-PAIN
I’ll sunbathe topless on the Costa del Sol – boring tourist bosses can try & ban it, I’ll bare my boobs with pride
Watch a topless Vicky share her views.
SPREADING out her towel on a Costa del Sol beach, Vicky Borman plops down her bag, water bottle and sun cream.
It's the first day of a week-long family holiday and the mum-of-three boys, who’ve asked not to be named, can’t wait to get some quality sun tanning time.
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Positioning her sunglasses carefully, married Vicky, takes off her shorts and pulls off her vest, settling in for a day of sun and relaxation.
The only difference between Vicky and all the other women on the beach is she’s topless… and unapologetically so.
It’s a decision which puts the natural health remedy businesswoman from St Neots, Cambs., in direct defiance of new local regulations in the holiday hotspot which declare visitors must be ‘dressed completely’ in public spaces.
This week threatening signs have emerged amid rising anti-tourist sentiments.
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I’ve encouraged so many of my friends to holiday there. This new ‘cover up advice’ seems totally barmy. I don't know how it would be enforced. Who determines what completely dressed means?
Vicky Borman
Billboard posters have been put up around Malaga asking visitors to wear full clothes while touring the city.
They show a man and a woman wearing T-shirts with instructions that read: "Both on the street and in public places always wear an upper garment for respect and hygiene."
Such posters have sprung up all over the Spanish resort - and are understood to be part of a campaign kicked off by local authorities.
There is even a small British flag on the posters, suggesting the instructions are meant for UK holidaymakers.
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I don’t shove my breasts in people’s faces. I have been topless by pools, on yachts, in my garden and on beaches. I am on holiday, and I want to get an all over tan.
Vicky Borman
The campaign comes as fed-up locals take snaps of topless tourists on city streets and post them in anti-tourism groups on social media - something Vicky thinks is awful. “No one wants moobs or boobs in their face at the checkout,” she says. “It’s bonkers to assume women are shopping with their boobs and nipples out. But on the beach I don’t cover up and I won’t. The beach is a topless zone.
“I love holidaying in the Costa del Sol,” says Vicky, 46. “I always sunbathe topless. When I go to the bar or loo I cover up. I walk into the sea topless and back to my towel topless.
Málaga Enforces Dress Code Amid Anti-Tourist Sentiment
“These new rules won’t stop me from baring my boobs on the beach.
“Costa del Sol.. more like Costa total Control.
“I am a sensible topless sunbather and no one even complained when I stayed there.
“I have been sunbathing topless since I was 18. I will not change my ways.
“I don’t shove my breasts in people’s faces. I have been topless by pools, on yachts, in my garden and on beaches. I am on holiday, and I want to get an all over tan. If I don't bare my breasts it will ruin my vacay. That will not be happening.”
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According to Vicky all women should sunbathe topless. “My gran told me ‘if you have it, flaunt it’,” she says. “She was amazing and body confident. She proved no matter how old you are topless sunbathing is enjoyable and life affirming.
“We loved pulling off our vests together on beaches and yachts we hired and getting a proper tan. I plan on still bearing all at 90 like she did.”
Vicky first went topless sunbathing on a beach in Greece with her now-husband when she was 18 in July 1996.
“We went to Lefkada, an Ionian island off Greece,” she says. “I took off my bikini top and went swimming topless. It felt amazing and so natural.
“I lay on my towel and just enjoyed the beach and the sun. I came back with a strap free tan and more confident than ever.
Anti-tourist measures sweep Europe
Overcrowding has become the main problem in many sunny destinations, with authorities trying to find a solution to keep tourists and locals happy.
Officials have attempted to reduce the impact of holidaymakers by implementing additional taxes on tourists, or banning new hotels.
Earlier this year Venice became the first city in the world to charge an entry fee for holidaymakers after it started charging day-trippers €5 (£4.30) if visiting the historical Italian centre.
It was followed by an area in Barcelona which resorted to removing a well-used bus route from Apple and Google Maps to stop crowds of tourists from using the bus.
Meanwhile, San Sebastián in the north of Spain, limited the maximum number of people on guided visits to 25 to avoid congestion, noise, nuisance and overcrowding.
The city has already banned the construction of new hotels.
The Spanish government has allowed restaurants to charge customers more for sitting in the shade in Andalucia.
Benidorm has introduced time restrictions, as swimming in the sea between midnight and 7am could cost a whopping £1,000.
The Canary Islands are also considering adopting measures to regulate the number of visitors - and charge tourists a daily tax.
Greece has already enforced a tourist tax during the high season (from March to October) with visitors expected to pay from €1 (£0.86) to €4 (£3.45) per night, depending on the booked accommodation.
Officials in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia want to introduce a fee for travellers to remind people to be courteous during their trips.
She says it was then she realised not only was empowering baring her breasts but practical as well.
“Every woman knows when you have a swim and then sunbath you are left with a wet fabric covering on your breasts. Water drips everywhere and it’s so uncomfortable. It’s the worst!
“Not wearing a bikini top solves that. I hate that feeling of wet bikini triangles on my boobs.
“In past years when I have been topless sunbathing by hotel pools, I pop on a vest to go to the bar or loo. No one tried to stop me stripping off nor should they. Why officials think women wander streets topless is bonkers!
I am not topless sunbathing to get attention or be ogled. I am getting some vitamin D, enjoying the breeze on my boobs, and relaxing.
Vicky Borman
“Topless sunbathing is a very European thing to do.”
In fact, Vicky considers herself a model Costa del Sol holiday maker.
“I don't get drunk, play loud music and throw up or cause chaos,” she says. “I am not topless sunbathing to get attention or be ogled. I am getting some vitamin D, enjoying the breeze on my boobs, and relaxing.
“I’ve encouraged so many of my friends to holiday there. This new ‘cover up advice’ seems totally barmy. I don't know how it would be enforced. Who determines what completely dressed means?
“If you only have a bikini bottom like a man only has swimming trunks then that’s fully dressed on a beach.
Vicky says it’s only jealous women, creepy men or “fuddy duddies” who object to topless sunbathing.
“There are times when I will be topless sunbathing by a pool and blokes start staring at my chest,” she says. “His girlfriend will spot him and give him an earful.
Breastfeeding and giving birth makes you less worried about what others think. You realise the female body does amazing things. You become less stressed about baring a boob or a nipple.
Vicky Borman
“I have experienced tut-tuts of disapproval from fuddy-duddies.”
Since becoming a mum Vicky says she is even more determined to not cover up while enjoying the sun.
“I breastfed my three boys,” she says. “The longest was for seven months.
“Breastfeeding and giving birth makes you less worried about what others think. You realise the female body does amazing things. You become less stressed about baring a boob or a nipple.”
She also loves encouraging her gal pals to follow her lead and shed their bikini tops on holiday.
Read More on The US Sun
“I was on holiday with a group of female friends for a girls’ week away in 2018 and some of us were topless,” she says. “We came back with great photos and tans. “Everyone said it was liberating. Most of us had children and as mums you learn to appreciate your post baby body in different ways.
“If the Costa Del Sol officials ban topless sunbathing they will lose tourists. Beaches are sacred and women will find themselves too scared to even wear a swimsuit.”
![Story from Jam Press (Tourists Dress Appropriately) Pictured: GV – City of Malaga poster about dressing appropriately. Holidaying Brits told to dress properly in public in Costa del Sol resort Holidaying Brits have been told to dress properly when out in public in the Costa del Sol. Billboard posters have been put up around Málaga. […]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/city-malaga-poster-dressing-appropriately-923295789_dd39fd.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
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