French Coastal Town Now Bans Bathing Suits In City Center Amid Tourism Surge

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, Decides to Ban Tourists From Wearing Bikinis successful Town

The occidental French municipality of Les Sables-d’Olonne successful nan Vendee section has adopted a section by-law banning swimsuits connected its streets. The rule targets visitors who are not successful bathing suits connected nan beach, particularly successful municipality centers, markets, commercialized zones and stepping alleys.

The norm is effective immediately, according to municipal notices from nan Ville des Sables-d’Olonne and comments from Mayor Yannick Moreau. Flyers, administrative signs and public-service announcements are each portion of an accusation run aimed astatine strengthening nan dress code. The bid is being issued nether powers received successful nan Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT – General Code of Local Government), which allows French cities to instrumentality section measures related to nationalist order.

Regulation Framework and Enforcement Mechanism

The caller clothing rule affects each citizens who are wrong nan town’s limits. Walking, topless aliases successful immoderate benignant of swimsuit extracurricular officially designated formation areas tin now beryllium considered a regulatory infraction. Local constabulary tin springiness on-the-spot fines of up to €150 (about $175) for non-compliance.

The municipality regularisation is successful nan shape of an arrêté municipal (municipal order), a section enactment published successful nan ineligible bulletin of nan commune and executed according to French administrative law. The rule is aimed astatine municipality behaviour associated pinch nan tourism of nan beaches and is particularly focused connected nan places that seasonal visitors thin to tread astir heavy while making their measurement from nan formation to inland attractions.

It will besides see printed materials that will carnivore nan wording of nan municipality charismatic communication:

Aux Sables d’Olonne, le respect ne prend pas de vacances, (In Les Sables d’Olonne, respect doesn’t spell connected holiday). This consciousness effort is being extended to pamphlets and flyers distributed to hotels, tourer accusation centers, shopping malls and nationalist spaces to counsel visitors earlier they get to down from nan beach.

Scope of nan Regulation

This dress codification evidently does not use astatine beaches, formation promenades aliases charismatic formation facilities. The formation is still unfastened to group who move up successful accepted bathing costume specified arsenic trunks, bikinis and different swimming gear.

The prohibition starts astatine nan bound of nan soil and nan municipality walkways, and applies successful nan centre of Les Sables-d’Olonne, including:

Rue Travot

Rue de la Patrie

Marche Arago (central market)

Rue des Halles (retail quarter)

Gare des Sables-d’Olonne (train station)

More accusation is further disposable astatine nan Office de Tourisme des Sables d’Olonne to support visitors updated. Visitors coming into municipality connected nan TER location train work aliases done nan Port Olona Marina get integer aliases insubstantial warnings connected specified behavioral codes for clothing and behavior.

See Tourism Management and Visitor Impact

The action comes arsenic location person been important increases successful nan numbers of arrivals from overseas and from wrong France. France was visited by conscionable complete 100 cardinal overseas visitors successful 2024, making nan state nan world leader successful tourism, an all-time high.

Les Sables-d’Olonne, which class of nan Pays de la Loire tourism region, still observed higher-than-usual seasonal business betwixt May and September, particularly during nan National holidays and schoolhouse break. It is 1 of nan astir visited destinations successful France for families, but it’s besides known for sailing events and taste festivals, specified arsenic nan Vendée Globe regatta and Festival des Musiques du Monde.

The caller norm is nan latest effort to support nan heavy trafficked municipality zones successful cognition while still encouraging formation tourism. Seven miles of nan town’s shoreline and respective formation accommodation are designed to accommodate nan influx of seasonal visitors and see toilets, lockers, outdoor showers, and – for your bid of mind – supervised swimming areas.

Alignment pinch Other National Measures

Other towns crossed France person created specified bylaws to combat seasonal influxes of holidaymakers. Places for illustration Nice, Cannes and Saint-Tropez person brought successful section dress codes banning swimwear successful municipality markets and adjacent authorities buildings during nan tallness of summer.

These rules are group retired successful nan Code de la sante publique and nan section rule code. The thought is to found a database of suitable clothing categories for non-leisurely locations, specified arsenic restaurants, banks, drugstores, and authorities work buildings.

Analogous cases person arisen successful different countries arsenic well. The Algerian coastal municipality of Chetaibi clamped down connected men donning short, tight bathing suits successful public. The rule dovetails pinch nan nationalist bid policies of nan Algerian Ministry of Interior.

Public Communication and Tourism Services

Les Sables-d’Olonne has not rested connected its laurels: It has been moving to support its position arsenic nan premier destination for families. Advisory boards made up of section and location operators, OEMs and acquisition transportation organizations could beryllium created to create materials.

Travel Recommendations for Visitors

Tourists hoping to walk a nighttime aliases 2 successful Les Sables-d’Olonne are recommended to:

Include due screen up attire for simulations from nan formation to nan municipality regions specified arsenic sundresses, T-shirts, aliases shorts.

Re-dress erstwhile headed to nationalist carrier stations, markets, aliases historical sites.

Review maps that bespeak beach-to-town lines wherever costume changes are anticipated.

The Office de Tourisme des Sables-d’Olonne 1, Promenade Wilson Les Sables-d’Olonne – France Sablesdolonne-tourisme.com Communication maps, norm summaries, brochures successful French, English and German.

Conclusion

The Les Sables-d’Olonne bathers’ bid is simply a concentrated argumentation consequence to an expanding influx of tourists, and nan town’s domiciled arsenic a awesome edifice connected nan French Atlantic coast. It sets good understood beachwear boundaries truthful visitors cognize what to expect townwide while keeping up nan standards of its nationalist and business places.