Nudists vs Swingers in France's 'Naked City'

by Jordan Yerman | September 23, 2010 at 03:17 pm

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Nudists Protest 'Libertine' Behavior at Cap d'Agde

Nudists in the French beach town of Cap d'Agde are angry over the "libertine" behavior of the town's swingers, whose own numbers are increasing.

According to local councilmember Florence Denestebe, "When the sun shines, there is an area of Cap d'Agde which turns into the European capital of free sex." The traditional nudists are complaining that the "libertines" are engaging in sex acts in front of children, and that those activities may spill over into non-nudist parts of Cap d'Agde.

Tensions between the groups have been simmering for years, and several arson attacks on swinger clubs were blamed on "nudist fundamentalists".

At stake for the town of Cap d'Agde is the influx of 40,000 tourists a year, drawn to France's "Naked City", which has been frequented by nudists for over 40 years More recently, swinger-friendly apartments and sex clubs have been springing up.

At this week's Cap d'Agde council meeting, the protests took a more peaceful form. Old-fashioned nudists complained that they, and their children, were being confronted with "voyeurist" and "exhibitionist" behaviour, including sexual acts in public. Worse, they suggested, the "deviant" newcomers sometimes walked about in their clothes and mocked the "real" nudists.

Mayor Gilles d'Ettore is reluctant to get involved:

"We didn't invent partner-swapping or libertine behaviour in Cap d'Agde. This has been a social trend for 10 years," the centre-right mayor and parliamentary deputy said. "I refuse to make value judgements on the sexual habits of other people. I can't put a policeman behind all 40,000 nudists."