Fewer European women are choosing to sunbathe topless, with a recent survey revealing a significant decline in Spain. The shift is linked to growing concerns about privacy and safety, particularly the risk of being filmed without consent.
Decline in topless sunbathing
A 2025 YouGov survey found that 37% of Spanish women often sunbathe topless, compared to 49% in a similar 2017 survey – a drop of 12%. While topless sunbathing is widely accepted in most Western European countries, recent articles in Spanish media have highlighted that some women no longer feel comfortable baring all at the beach.
Last summer, Canarian Weekly published an article titled 'Why is topless sunbathing disappearing from Canary Islands beaches?' and on August 2, El País addressed the same topic. Both features suggest that topless sunbathing no longer feels safe for many women.
Fear of being watched and filmed
Women interviewed by Canarian Weekly said they feel they are constantly 'being watched' and expressed concerns about sexual harassment or being filmed without their consent. Professor Clare McGlynn, a leading expert on violence against women and girls, told Metro that this decline is unsurprising 'in the age of smart glasses and the epidemic of non-consensual filming and sharing of intimate images'.
'Every day, women are now having to be wary of strangers, mostly men, filming them in public and uploading imagery to websites,' she said. 'This almost certainly would include them being on the beach, especially if topless.'
In the UK, it is not illegal to film someone in a public space without their consent. While campaigners like Gina Martin have pushed for legal reforms, such as making upskirting illegal, significant gray areas remain regarding recording people in public.
Broader concerns about privacy
Concerns extend beyond the beach. A BBC investigation in February found over 65 online channels dedicated to 'nightlife content' that focused on filming women in dresses or skirts, often without their knowledge. Amy Watson, founder of HASSL, an organisation tackling harassment and violence against women, told Metro: 'Women now have to exist in public with the knowledge that someone can take out a phone, photograph or film them without their consent, and potentially put that content in front of millions of strangers before they even know it exists.'
'Going topless should be a completely ordinary choice about your own body, but the possibility of being secretly filmed, sexualised or turned into someone else's online 'content' takes away some of that freedom,' she added.
Calls for change
'The answer can't be another warning for women to cover up or change their behaviour,' Amy said. 'We need to be asking why women are having to give up freedoms because other people cannot be trusted to respect their boundaries. Technology has made covert filming too easy – our laws, platforms and social attitudes around consent now need to catch up.'
