Barinatxe Nudist Beach SopelanaBarinatxe beach The beach is just a 10-minute drive from Bilbao A less famous, but also internationally known event, is the yearly nude race on Barinatxe beach in the fall. Barinatxe is a clothing optional beach. Barinatxe Nudist Beach Sopelana
The annual Patxi Ros Trophy Nudist Race is held here.
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Located between Bizkaia's towns of Sopelana and Getxo,
Barinatxe Beach
is also known as La Salvaje (The Wild). It is a wide-open beach
surrounded by beautiful cliffs that has also a nudist area.
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Index to Spanish Naturist Beaches |
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Naturist Beaches of Costa Verde The Green Coast
I'd never fancied a 'nakation' and if we hadn't
stumbled across Barinatxe nudist beach, in Sopelana, while on a surf
safari of Spain's rugged northern coast, I never would have sought one
out. After all, aren't nudist beaches full of wrinkly grannies and
gawping perverts?
I'd always imagined them to be packed with a
throng of people I wouldn't want to see naked. But, while there are a
few oldies here, there are plenty of buff young dudes and pretty girls,
too.
We find a secluded spot on the grass by the cliffs and
quickly shed our clothes. Like removing a plaster, I decide that it'll
be a lot less painful if I peel off my bikini as fast as possible.
I
arrange my towel carefully to minimise the chance of sand getting where
it shouldn't and start applying suncream, wishing I'd brought another
bottle: I'm going to need more than I was expecting. At least it will be
a good opportunity to toast those lily-white bits that never see
daylight.
Peaceful Barinatxe beach, untouched by mass tourism and
sheltered by craggy cliffs, is a 752-metre-long dreamscape, frequented
mostly by locals – as such, it's blissfully free of the crowds of Brits
you'll find in the sun-baked south. It's also the setting for an annual
5000km nude race, which takes place every July to promote naturism.
The
beach is just a 10-minute drive from Bilbao – famed for its dazzling
ark-like Guggenheim Museum, a shiny titanium creation, and its
atmospheric Old Town, chocka with pintxos (Basque tapas) bars.
When
it comes to bare beaches, Spain was one of Europe’s late starters,
introducing its first one in 1979. But according to nudists' bible, The
World Guide to Bare Beaches, Spain is “now amongst the most enthusiastic
and progressive advocates of the bare beach lifestyle”.
Even in a
nation as prudish as the UK, stripping off now seems to be the activity
du jour. Hip models such as Daisy Lowe and Lily Cole have posed
starkers in recent years and events like the Naked Bike Ride held in
Brighton and London amass much media attention and are hugely popular
with people that appear to have been just desperate to strip off in
public.
With this in mind, I start to feel less self-conscious
about being naked; until my boyfriend announces he's off for a surf
(with a wetsuit on, I might add)Alone and unclothed, I suddenly feel
vulnerable. But once I notice that no one’s staring at me (should I be
offended that they’re not) I relax and read my book.
If you fear
– or hope – this nudist beach is a hotbed of debauchery, think again.
There are no orgies, copulating or naked exhibitionism – no genitals
are being waved in my face, thankfully.
Among the bathers are
families with children and, in many ways, it's just an ordinary beach
with ordinary bathers, sans swimwear. True naturists like to be at one
with nature, not be exhibitionists.
There is one couple in their fifties, however, who spend the day
parading up and down the beach – are they exercising or are they
flouting their bits?
I can't help but stare at everyone, as I'm
not used to seeing such a sea of genitalia. The longer I sit here
pretending to read my book, the more I learn about male and female
anatomy.
By
the end of the day, being naked feels normal and it almost feels like a
chore to get dressed again. But at least I get to go home with the
perfect no-strap-marks tan.
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